


Forgetting

by JayceCarter



Category: Fallout 4
Genre: Angst, Attempted Rape/Non-Con, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Insecurity, Past Rape/Non-con, Sex, Smut, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-16
Updated: 2017-05-09
Packaged: 2018-09-24 21:16:27
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 17
Words: 22,748
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9787313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JayceCarter/pseuds/JayceCarter
Summary: Ellie wants Nick, but Nick wants Nora. What better way to forget Nick than a one night stand? But when Ellie's one night stand shows up the next day at the office, she realizes she might have complicated things even more. MacCready knows she only wanted him for a night, but he finds it hard to forget the little secretary, and figures Nick's loss is his gain.





	1. Chapter 1

Nick’s arms were wrapped around Nora, his mouth against hers. They moved like they’d never get enough of each other, all passion and want and need.

 

And all Ellie could do was stand and stare.

 

She backed away until she hit the edge of the desk, knocking a fan onto the floor.

 

The two broke apart, Nora’s cheeks flushed, chest rising and falling like she’d been running.

 

“Sorry.” Ellie didn’t bother to pick the fan up, just reached for the door handle.

 

“Ellie!” Nick’s voice followed her, but she ran, like a coward.

 

She’d wanted him for years, dealt with his rejection, with his clear disinterest. It wasn’t even hidden love, because the bastard had known exactly how she felt. The only thing he offered back was pity and a willingness to pretend he didn’t know.

 

And then she had to walk in on him with Nora.

 

And damnit, she LIKED Nora. Maybe if she hated her it would be easier, but she liked the woman.

 

Ellie ducked behind Piper’s place as Nick ran by.

 

“She ran this way, I’m sure of it.” 

 

Nora grabbed his arm. “She’ll come back. It’s alright.”

 

Nick rubbed his good hand against the back of this neck. “Did you see her face? I screwed up, Doll.”

 

“Come on. We’ll wait at the office. She’s family, Nick, she’ll be back.”

 

They walked toward the office, and after Ellie was sure they’d gone, she left her hiding spot. There was only one place to go, really: Any place with alcohol.

 

#

 

MacCready sat at the back table in the Dugout Inn. Nora had gone off to Valentine’s office, and since he and the synth didn’t see eye to eye, he’d decided to hang back. This place wasn’t The Third Rail, but it had beer, and his standards were low.

 

A woman sat in the chair across from him.

 

“Did you need something?”

 

“A place to drink.”

 

“The ten other places to sit make me ask again, did you need something?”

 

She took a drink of the beer in her hand. “Fine. I needed a place to drink and look busy, and you look like the best option.”

 

“I’m not great company.”

 

“Neither am I, tonight. However, you’re a mercenary, which means you only kill people for money. You’re not from around here, so I don’t have to worry about running into you again. And you’re not bad looking.”

 

MacCready paused, his beer halfway to his lips. She was pretty, he’d give her that. Young, with brown hair pulled back, a pink dress and a jean vest on. She struck him as a merchant, perhaps. Not a fighter, not like him, not like Nora. He tilted the beer up and took a gulp, then set it back down. “So what were you planning?”

 

“I’ve got a room. You interested?”

 

It had been a while, and the woman in front of him was hard to say no to. She didn’t strike him as the temptress type, as a woman who seduced men normally. It was in the way she met his gaze for brief periods before darting away, in the way she drug her thumb over the label on the bottle. The woman was nervous, and what was wrong with him that he liked it?

 

“Yeah.” He downed the rest of the contents of the bottle. “Yeah, I’m interested.”


	2. Chapter 2

The clicking of the door made Ellie want to run. What was she doing? She didn’t fall into bed with strangers at the Dugout Inn. Hell, Vadim would never let her live it down.

 

Then she thought about Nick and Nora and what they were probably doing.

 

She was tired of waiting, of hoping, and wanting something that wasn’t going to happen. Nick didn’t want her, but the man in this room did.

 

At least for tonight, and tonight was all she really needed.

 

“You change your mind?”

 

Ellie turned around to face him. “Nope.” She slid her hands behind his head and pulled his mouth to hers. He had to lean down to reach, his hands setting on her hips.

 

Ellie deepened the kiss, tasting the beer on his breath. She pressed her body closer, and smacked into something hard. Something a lot harder than any part of him should be.

 

She frowned and looked down.

 

He laughed. “Sorry. Tools of the trade.” He backed up and started to take his gear off, stacking it on the table. A sniper rifle, two pistols, a string of bullets from his chest, another attached to his thigh. She’d known he was a mercenary, but seeing the weaponry, seeing it all piled there, it startled her.

 

Nick didn’t carry that all. He had a revolver and a sense of justice. That was it. This man was a different breed, and that was exactly what she needed.

 

He pulled off the duster he wore next, then the hat, setting them on top of the weapons. His thin lips quirked up as she stared.

 

“Making you nervous?”

 

She shook her head. “Like I said, you’re a mercenary. No one’s going to pay much to kill me. Wouldn’t be worth the bullet.”

 

He chuckled and walked back over, capturing her lips. He backed her toward the bed, hands undoing the buttons of her vest. His long fingers crept into her top and cupped her breast. He swallowed her moan at the touch.

 

It had been so long since she’d been touched. She’d wasted so many years waiting for Nick to pay attention to her, to give her some sign that he’d want her, that he’d ever want her. No one else had been able to compare to the fantasy she’d held.

 

But that fantasy had been washed away, so she let herself drown in this random, nameless man instead.

 

He laid her back on the bed, sliding a hand up her thigh, beneath the hemline of her dress. She spread her thighs, letting him settle between them.

 

His skin was warm against hers, his body solid. She pulled at the basic shirt he had on, even though removing it required him to take his hands off her.

 

Once he’d undone all the buttons on the front of her dress, it opened down the front, opening to leave her in just her underwear. He grinned as he looked down at her. “Like unwrapping one heck of a gift.”

 

“Shut up and take off your pants.”

 

He stood up and hooked his fingers around the button of his pants. “You sure about this? You don’t strike me as the sort who does this a lot.”

 

Ellie slid her panties off and nodded. “I’m sure.”

 

The man, still smiling that damned smile, undid his pants and slid them, and anything he’d had on beneath, off. “You trying to get back at someone, then?”

 

“What?”

 

He crawled onto the bed, but stopped between her legs. He licked two of his fingers and pressed them against her clit. She gasped at the sudden touch, and almost missed him answering. 

 

“For a girl like you to pick up a random man, you’ve got to be trying to get back at someone. I’m guessing someone turned you down, and you figure you’ll show them by picking up someone else. How am I doing?”

 

Ellie let her eyes slide closed as he rubbed her clit, her hips moving, seeking more. “Why do you even care?”

 

“Oh, I don’t. I count myself lucky you picked me to get back at ‘em with. Could have picked anyone, and let me tell you, this is a better way to spend my evening than I was expecting. Some idiot wants to throw this away?” He slid a finger into her cunt. “Well, I’m only too happy to step in.”

 

#

 

The woman was coming apart beneath MacCready’s touch, and he loved it. She moved like she hadn’t had anyone doing this for her in years, desperate and honest and so fucking needy. He hoped whatever fool hadn’t wanted her would get a glimpse of this and realize how stupid he was.

 

MacCready thrust the finger into her before adding another. She was tight and so wet. He worked her, watching the way her eyes had fluttered closed, the way she’d gotten herself lost in the feeling.

 

Yeah, there were a hell of a lot worse ways to spend a night than pleasuring a pretty girl like this. Tomorrow he’d have to head out again to God only knew where with Nora, and he’d at least get to take this memory with him.

 

Ought to help him release some frustration at night for a while.

 

He curled his fingers looking for that special spot. The woman gasp and jerked beneath his touch, eyes flying open.

 

“There we go.” He did it again, drawing a moan this time.

 

It only took him another moment before she was writhing. He leaned down, latching his lips over her clit while his fingers continued to pleasure her. Her fingers slid into his hair as she came, quiet, sweet, just like her.

 

Fuck, he would watch that any day.

 

Her body eased back, hands slipping away from his head. He stretched out beside her, hand sliding along her hip as her body shook.

 

Yeah, he’d bet she hadn’t done this in a long time.

 

After a minute, a blush crept over her cheeks. Second thoughts?

 

“We don’t have to.” Sure, he’d be disappointed not to slide into her, but it had been a hell of a night already.

 

“I want to.”

 

He gripped her leg and pulled her over, until she straddled him. “Go on, then.”

 

He didn’t think he’d ever get tired of the red on her cheeks. He almost expected her to give in, to call it quits and crawl off. After a deep breath, she reached between them to grasp him.

 

“Fu- damn. That feels good.”

 

She leaned forward, her other hand on his chest for balance. She lined him up, clumsy, clearly not an expert at this. Still, the fumbling was adorable, and he liked it more than he wanted to admit. Finally, she’d nestled him into her. She set both hands on his chest, and slowly sunk down.

 

#

 

Ellie bit her bottom lip as he filled her.

 

It had been way too long, and this felt far too good. She kept going until her body pressed against him, until he was fully inside her.

 

He set his hands on her thighs, that smile at least wiped off his face for the moment. His eyes were locked down at where they were joined, like he’d seen nothing better in his whole life.

 

Ellie leaned forward, sliding up and almost off of him before coming back down. His fingers bit into her thighs, and she felt his muscles twitch.

 

He wanted faster. She knew it, could see it in the tension of his face. He was fighting it, trying to stay put, trying to let her do what she wanted.

 

She had to admit, she liked that. She liked him struggling, liked him forcing himself to endure even when he wanted to flip her over and fuck her.

 

What would it have been like with Nick?

 

“Don’t think about him.”

 

“Who?”

 

The man jerked her thighs down, making her coming down harder on his length. “Whoever it is you’re trying to forget.”

 

“I thought you didn’t care.”

 

“I don’t. I just don’t like that look on your face. I liked it better when you were coming, or when I was pushing into you. A face like yours shouldn’t look sad.”

 

Ellie laughed and shook her head, continuing her slow movements, taking him deep but at her pace.

 

“You’re killing me,” he groaned.

 

“What do you want?”

 

“Faster. Harder.”

 

Ellie leaned down and kissed him. “Then do it.”

 

Before the words had fully left her lips, the man grabbed her arms and flipped her over to her back. He slid back into her, and took her exactly like he’d said.

 

His hips thrusted forward, pushing him in so much deeper than before. It made a mockery of what she’d done. He hand wrapped in her hair, pulling her head back as he attacked her neck, nipping at the exposed skin. He used his body, honed by fighting, and used it to take her. She gave up everything, letting him have her exactly like he needed.

 

It helped shoved away the memory of Nick. In that moment, with this man surrounding her, inside of her, there wasn’t room for anything else. Not for fantasies, or pain, or what ifs. Nothing but his body and hers.

 

He bit down hard as he came, panting, body losing that tension he’d carried. He leaned his body to the side, giving her space to breath.

 

Ellie wanted to roll over, to set her head on his chest, to rest.

 

But this wasn’t about resting. This was about wiping one memory with another, and she’d done that.

 

She allowed herself one more kiss from his lips, tasting sweat and herself on them, before standing up and redressing.

 

“You don’t have to go. It might take me a while to be ready again, but I’d be happy to spend it relaxing with you.” He stretched out on the bed, naked, skin covered in drops of sweat, and looking far too tempting.

 

“Thanks, but maybe some other time. Have a good night.”

 

“What’s your name?”

 

She stopped at the door and smiled back at him. “Does it really matter?”

 

He shrugged. “Guess not. Have a good night.”


	3. Chapter 3

“Where were you all night? I was worried.” Nick crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Ellie the way he liked to do when he didn’t approve.

 

And if he didn’t approve of her breaking curfew, she could only imagine how he’d feel about what she’d done the night before. “I was out. You were busy; I didn’t think you’d mind.”

 

He broke eye contact then, as if the floor had become interesting all of a sudden. “Look, Doll, I’m sorry about that.”

 

Ellie lifted her hand to stop him. “Don’t you dare patronize me. I am not your child. I am not someone who needs your pity or your excuses. I deserve more than that.”

 

“I know you do. I didn’t want you to find out like that.”

 

“Find out what? That you’re screwing Nora?”

 

“It’s not like that. We’re, well, she’s special, okay?”

 

Ellie heard what he hadn’t said. Nora was special. Ellie wasn’t. “Right. Special.”

 

“That’s not what I meant. You know you’re special to me.” He wrapped his metal hand around her arm and she tried to yank out of it. The metal cut her arm, but he lacked sensors there to feel the blood and she refused to let the pain show on her face. “Just listen to me.”

 

“I’ve listened to you for a long time, Nick. I’ve done everything for you. I’ve taken care of you, I’ve run your errands, I’ve defended you. I get it, you never wanted me, not like you wanted Nora. I finally get it, I do. I never was enough for you, and you’ll never see me as anything more than the kid you hired here.”

 

“Stop that. That’s not the way it is.”

 

“The worst part it, it’s my fault. I can’t even be mad at you; you never led me on. You made it clear you never saw me that way, but I just kept thinking if I did enough, if I gave enough, you’d finally see me different. But you never will.”

 

Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Those are some marks on your neck.”

 

“Not your business. Now let me go.”

 

Nick’s gaze dropped to his hand, to the blood leaking down where his hand had sliced her, to the red blood staining the metal. He jerked back, releasing her.

 

The door opened, and wouldn’t it figure that Nora came in.

 

And again, Ellie hated that she liked her. She couldn’t blame Nora either, especially not for falling for Nick. Ellie understood that all too well. “Morning,” Ellie said, trying to force cheerfulness into her voice. “Coffee?”

 

Nora’s gaze darted between Nick and Ellie, but Ellie refused to look behind her at the synth. “Sure.”

 

Someone followed Nora in, but Ellie went about making coffee. She didn’t care who else came in, didn’t care about anything but holding it together. Breaking down in front of Nick was bad enough, but she didn’t need Nora to see it.

 

That was, until Ellie turned around with the coffee to come face to face with the man from the night before.

 

#

 

MacCready grinned at the woman who damned near dropped the coffee in her hand. Her eyes widened, her face going pale.

 

She tried to get it under control, took two deep breaths, then shoved the coffee at Nora.

 

“Thanks, Ellie.”

 

So there was one question. The girls name was Ellie, and if she was making coffee here, she must be Valentine’s secretary.

 

“Morning,” he offered and stuck his hand out to her. “My name’s MacCready.”

 

She stared at the hand, not moving. Then a blush covered her cheeks. Probably thinking about all the things that hand had done the night before. God knew he’d been thinking about it.

 

“Coffee?”

 

He chuckled at the change in subject but pulled his hand back. “Sure. I had a long night.”

 

She turned around and fled to make the coffee, trying her damnest to ignore him, Valentine, and Nora.

 

“So where are you two headed?” Valentine sounded off, his voice strained. Few things bothered the synth, but something had upset him.

 

MacCready spotted his metal hand, and the red that colored it. Blood?

 

As Ellie turned around, he spotted matching cuts on her arm. Still the girl didn’t appear afraid. She offered MacCready the coffee.

 

“I’m going to go run some errands. It was nice seeing you, Nora, and nice to, um, meet you, MacCready.” She scurried from the room before anyone could stop her.

 

“So I’m taking it that didn’t go well,” Nora said and sat in the chair in front of Valentine’s desk.

 

“Not really, no.”

 

Nora looked over at MacCready. “Can you give us a minute?”

 

He shrugged and walked out.

 

And who was just outside but Ellie. She leaned against the wall of the building, eyes closed. His bites still showed on her skin, because she had the sort of skin that marked up so easily.

 

“So you know Nora. Why am I not surprised?” She spoke without opening her eyes.

 

MacCready took a spot to her left. “I think Nora knows everyone.”

 

She laughed, a hollow sound. “Yep. Special Nora.”

 

“Your arm matches the fingers of a certain metal dick we both know. You okay?”

 

“Yep.”

 

And wasn’t that a big yellow ‘do not cross’ sign? The topic was clearly off limits.

 

“I’m in town every now and then. I’d like to see you again.”

 

She laughed and shook her head. “I don’t think I’m going to be here much longer.”

 

“You moving?”

 

She looked back at the door, and he wasn’t sure he’d seen longing that deep before. The poor girl had it bad, and he didn’t need to be a detective to figure it out. She was in love with Nick, who was head over heels for Nora. That sort of triangle didn’t ever get any less painful.

 

“Yeah, I think it might be time to move on.”

 

“Well, take care of yourself. You need anything, just find a minuteman and send word. They can reach me.”

 

She nodded, but he knew she’d never do it.

 

Yeah, unrequited love was a bitch.


	4. Chapter 4

****

Ellie managed to ignore Nick for the next few days. It wasn’t difficult, really. He’d tried to talk to her a few times, but when met with a poker face as good as his own, he’d given in.

 

They worked, mostly, the office filled with tense silence.

 

“You got the Richard Coster file?”

 

Ellie opened the filing cabinet and sorted through them. She located the right folder and pulled it out. She dropped it on his desk instead of into the hand he held out for it.

 

“Thanks, sweetheart.”

 

The name pushed on her nerves. He offered it like second place, like a consolation prize she didn’t want.

 

“I already conducted the interviews on that one. Best I can tell, he ran off to Goodneighbor.”

 

Nick opened the file and pulled the paperwork out. “Yeah, maybe.” He studied the papers, dragging his finger along the words as he went. He never believed her, never trusted her judgement. “I don’t know. I think maybe I’ll reinterview the wife.”

 

Ellie went over and slammed the file closed. “I told you I handled it. Will you not even trust me on that?”

 

“I trust you. I just figured I might see something you missed.”

 

“You wouldn’t second guess Nora.”

 

He leaned back in his chair. “Is that what this is all still about? I wanted to talk to you, to clear the air about this, but you’ve been refusing to talk about it. Are you just going to bang around this office forever, or are we going to sit down and work this out?” The condescending tone pushed Ellie over the edge.

 

She’d been helping him on cases for years. She knew this job as well as he did. “You know what? Forget it. Coster’s wife came to me for help, not to you. I’ll take care of this.” Ellie reached past him and gathered up the papers, shoving them into the file.

 

“Don’t be stupid, Ellie. If you’re right and this leads to Goodneighbor, what are you going to do? Go traipsing through the Commonwealth on a lead?”

 

“It’s what you do. Why couldn’t I? Would you tell Nora she couldn’t do it?”

 

“Nora is a fighter. You aren’t.”

 

She grabbed a bag from the top of the file cabinet and shoved the papers inside. The pistol from her desk drawer was next. She packed everything she could need. “Maybe not, but I’m not useless, either.”

 

“I never said you were.”

 

“But you think it, right? You think I can handle filing and making coffee and that’s it. I can do more, Nick, and I wish you believed in me just once.”

 

“I do, Ellie.”

 

She sighed, standing by the front door. She never thought she’d walk out like this, never thoughts she’d be here, but she couldn’t stand the idea of staying one single more day. She couldn’t sit beside Nick and work like nothing was wrong, like he hadn’t ripped her heart out, and what made it all worse was she finally accepted that Nick didn’t even really respect her.

 

He loved her, sure. But he thought her unable to take care of herself let alone anyone else.

 

“I’ll check in, okay? Shouldn’t take more than a few days to get this figured out.”

 

“I’ll go with you. You aren’t going to Goodneighbor alone. That place-“

 

“-Is where I grew up, in case you’ve forgotten. I wasn’t always your damsel in distress. I’ll be fine. Besides, I know Nora is coming back tomorrow, and you’ll be heading off with her. I’m fine on my own. I think we both need to remember that.”

 

Ellie knew he wanted to argue, but Nick was nothing if not observant. He knew she wouldn’t listen, so he sat there, with all the shit between them that neither knew how to fix.

 

#

 

“Yeah?” MacCready eyed Valentine, who had asked him to stop by while Nora was at the market. It wasn’t exactly news that Valentine wasn’t a fan of the his, so the request couldn’t be anything good.

 

MacCready wasn’t waiting on some cheesy making up moment or anything.

 

“I want to hire you.”

 

“I already got a job.”

 

“Alrready okayed it with Nora. She and I are going to go handle some things, so you’ll be free for as long as you need to do this.”

 

“What’s the job?”

 

Nick lit a cigarette, and MacCready got the sense the synth was nervous.

 

“You remember my secretary? Ellie?”

 

Oh, MacCready remembered her alright. He’d thought about her about every night since he’d taken her to bed. Hard to forget someone like that. “Yeah, I remember her.”

 

“Well, we had a falling out.”

 

MacCready laughed at the bullshit description. The girl was hopeless infatuated and Nick wasn’t interested. It wasn’t a falling out, it was an damned explosion.

 

Nick continued. “She’s angry, and she ran off to Goodneighbor on a case of mine. I need you to keep an eye on her. She’s smart, but she’s naïve. She doesn’t know how to take care of herself, and you know Goodneighbor. Isn’t the sort of town she should be in without friends.” Nick tossed a bag onto the desk. “300 caps sound good?”

 

MacCready took the bag and shoved it into his pocket. 300 caps to have an excuse to go follow her around? Sounded fucking amazing to him. “We’ve got a deal.”


	5. Chapter 5

“I can’t let you go walking around without insurance.”

 

“Fuck you, Finn. Try that again and I’ll tell your Mama what you’re doing out here.”

 

The man narrowed his eyes, then grinned. “Oh, Fuck, Ellie? It’s been years.”

 

She laughed and threw her arms around Finn, who had always been more trouble than a friend was worth. He was older, always playing the brother she didn’t have, like most of the people in Goodneighbor. “You can’t tell me anyone actually pays you anything.”

 

“Enough to keep alive, at least. What are you doing back? I heard you had some fancy job in Diamond City. Didn’t figure you’d slum it again anytime soon.”

 

“I’m here for that fancy job, actually. I’ll only be here a couple days, hadn’t planned on any visiting.”

 

“Like anyone would let you leave without a bit of fun. Go on then, we’ll say your insurance is all payed up.”

 

“It better be after I helped you hook up with Sammy when you were fifteen. I stood watch in a radstorm for two hours as lookout.”

 

He laughed and pushed her shoulders to get her moving.

 

For a moment, Ellie wondered why she hadn’t come back sooner. Sure, growing up in Goodneighbor wasn’t easy, or all together safe, but it was home. Goodneighbor didn’t make weak people, it grew strength and smarts, and even if she’d forgotten that for a while, it had grown those things in her.

 

She needed a room for a few days, then she could look over the file and figure out her next step.

 

She’d show Nick exactly how useful she could be.

 

#

 

MacCready flipped Finn off as he walked in, not bothering to offer the thug even a word. He shook down every person who walked through the gates like a troll beneath a fucking bridge. Still, he wasn’t tough enough to confront MacCready.

 

Had Ellie paid? Probably all she had as fast as she could. A girl like Ellie wouldn’t have said no to Finn, not with all that attitude he used when working the gates. It was fine; Nora had slid MacCready some extra caps for any expenses Ellie needed. He could pay her room and anything else she needed.

 

MacCready had no great love for Goodneighbor, but it was better than Diamond City. It lacked the full of itself edge. People in both places were scum, but at least the ones in Goodneighbor admitted it.

 

He went to the Rexford, the only hotel in the city. Good a place as any to start.

 

“Hey, Clair.” MacCready leaned against the counter in the lobby.

 

“What did you want, MacCready?”

 

“I need a room and some information.”

 

“A room I can help you with. Information? That’s always trickier.”

 

“Any new folks rent a room in the last day?”

 

“New folks? No. No one new. Just some regulars.”

 

Damnit. Maybe he’d gotten there first? He had hauled ass from Diamond City, and the way to Goodneighbor wasn’t the best marked in the Commonwealth. Maybe she’d gotten turned around or something.

 

“Alright, thanks anyway. I’ll go check in The Third Rail.”

 

He refused to consider that she’d met her end on the trip. Sure, there were super mutants, and raiders, and other nastiness, but he wouldn’t even entertain the thought. She’d probably lost her money already and run off to the Third Rail since she couldn’t rent a room.

 

Ham nodded as he passed. “Welcome back.”

 

“What can I say? I just can’t manage to stay away.”

 

Down the stairs, Magnolia stood on stage, singing, her voice filling the space. She was one of the things that made Goodneighbor a good place to lay low. You couldn’t beat the music.

 

He looked at the back tables. Nothing. Couches only had the normal occupants. She wasn’t here. He was about ready to give up when he heard her voice from the VIP room. “You’re kidding me, right?”

 

MacCready followed it, leaning around the corner to find Hancock stretched out on the couch, his legs laying across Ellie’s lap.

 

“Nah, sister. I wouldn’t lie to you. Nora is afraid of radroaches. First time one scuttled toward her she let out a scream like a neutered Yao-Guai.”

 

“Well, maybe I’ll have to use that information someday,” she said, laughing.

 

“You tell her I told you and she’ll gut me. So this better stay quiet.”

 

“John, if I never told anyone about that ugly man you picked up the first time you tried jet, I’m not gonna tell anyone about this. “

 

MacCready walked in. “Well, isn’t this cozy?”

 

Hancock tilted his hat up to look at him, but then went back to his own fun. “First time I made her grilled radroach, I told her it was squirrels. When she figured it out, she threw it up all over the floor.”

 

At least Ellie didn’t ignore MacCready. “Nick send you?”

 

“Yeah. Hired me to keep an eye on you.”

 

“I don’t need a bodyguard, thanks.”

 

Hancock waggled his eyebrow. “I’ll guard your body anytime, sunshine.”

 

“You’d guard a feral if you thought it meant the possibility of sex.”

 

“Is there the possibility of sex?” MacCready grinned at the flush on her checks.

 

“No, there’s not.”

 

“Pity,” he said. “Like it or not, Nick already paid. So either you make this easy and I help you out here, or you make it more complicated and I just follow your ass around anyway. Either way, you’ve got a shadow as long as you’re here.”

 

Ellie glared, but with the high mayor stretched out on top of her, she didn’t appear particularly dangerous. “Fine. But I’m telling you, I don’t need any help. Nick fail to mentioned I’d grown up here, huh? This town isn’t some unknown place to me.”

 

“I figured as much, what with the mayor cuddling up to you like that.”

 

“Ellie is the town’s little sister. The annoying brat we love but also talk into jumping off the memory den once or twice.”

 

“Three times. My leg still hurts when it rains.”

 

“Why did you do it three times?” MacCready asked. 

 

“Because we told her radstorms would give her super powers, and it took three times before she realized we were screwing with her.” Hancock sat up and flipped around, setting his head in her lap this time. “So, sunshine, where you staying?”

 

“As far away from you as I can.”

 

“Ouch. That wounds me. Come on, now. I know Clair would have given you a room for free, but I offer both room, company, and chems. Can’t beat that, can you?”

 

“The last time you did buffout, you made out with me.”

 

“What can I say? You’re irresistible.”

 

“My elbow. You made out with my elbow.”

 

“It is a nice elbow.”

 

Ellie laughed and shoved Hancock from her lap. “I’m staying at the Rexford and telling Clair not to let you in.”

 

“Rude. Disrespectful. That’s what this is, just flat out disrespect.”

 

She stuck her tongue out and walked past MacCready. He shook his head at the two of them and followed Ellie.

 

This was going to be interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

Ellie unpacked her bag, putting the clothing away in the dresser. The nice thing about renting a room here was she knew she had it as long as she needed it. Clair hadn’t been willing to accept a cap for it, of course.

 

“So you grew up here?” MacCready had followed her back to the hotel and into the room, the silent shadow he’d promised she’d have.

 

“Yep. Born and raised right here. I doubt anyone knows this place as well as I do.”

 

He took the sniper rifle off his back and set it on the table beside the door. “I spent quite a bit of time here, back before Nora hired me. Not a bad place if you can cut it.”

 

“Well, it hasn’t eaten me yet. If I were you, I’d be more worried about your own skin. I’ve got a job to do.”

 

“Nick mentioned something about that. A case?”

 

Ellie nodded, pulling out the file and opening it on the desk. “Yeah. Missing person. Richard Coster, 35. His wife, Tina, is a friend of mine. She came asking a week ago when he didn’t turn up for dinner. I asked around, but no one saw him after last Friday.”

 

“Why do you think he’s here?”

 

“Because he bought supplies from Myrna for a trip.”

 

“You got Myrna to talk to you?”

 

“Believe it or not, I’m rather charming.”

 

“Oh, darling, I believe it.” He tossed her a wink that made her forget what she was talking about for a moment.

 

“Right. Okay. Well, Myrna always gives me information because she thinks Nick is holding me hostage. Coster bought a 10mm, some bullets, rad-away and stimpacks. Went all out from what I can tell.”

 

“Still doesn’t mean he’s here. Could have headed anywhere.”

 

“He could have, but he didn’t. Diamond City security officer, Frankie, he owed me a favor. He paid it off by letting me know he gave Coster directions to Goodneighbor out by the gate.”

 

MacCready leaned over behind Ellie, his body so close she shuddered. If she leaned back a hair she’d press against him, against the warmth he promised just by being there.

 

“Good job.” His breath tickled her ear.

 

Eyes on the prize. No time to bang the help.

 

Saying it made her feel a tiny bit more confident it might be true.

 

“I told you I didn’t need help.”

 

“I never thought you did. You pegged me for a mercenary the first time you saw me. You think I’d turn down good caps on a babysitting job? Especially when I get to stare at your ass all day while I do it?”

 

“Well, my ass isn’t on the menu.”

 

He set his hands on her hips. “What is, then?”

 

“Charlie usually sells Cram, I think.”

 

“I was thinking of something a little different.” He slid his hand around to her stomach, then down and under the hem of her dress. He tucked his fingers into her panties.

 

And fuck, she knew she was already drenched. There wasn’t really a way to hide it from him. Not that she wanted to, really. She hadn’t had a night like she’d had with him ever. Who wouldn’t want a repeat of that?

 

Twice didn’t mean anything, she figured. If there was anyone who could keep things easy, it was MacCready.

 

He slipped a finger into her, catching her earlobe between his teeth. “You look damned sexy when you’re working. Did you know that?”

 

“I don’t think anyone has ever told me that.” She spread her fingers out on the desk for balance and tried to focus on just staying upright, on anything other than his fingers.

 

“That’s because the idiot you work with is fu- is blind. If he had any brains in that tin head of his he’d have bent you over something a long damned time ago.”

 

“Don’t talk about him.”

 

He chuckled before he slid her panties off and leaned her forward. He undid his pants and pressed his cock against her, making her whimper. “Did I find a sensitive spot? Is talking about Nick off limits?”

 

She pushed backward, forcing him into her an inch. “I just figured you had more interesting things on your mind than my boss.”

 

He groaned and pushed the rest of the way in. “He seems to be on your mind a hell of a lot already. You fantasizing about him right now? Pretending I’m him?”

 

No, she wasn’t. Even when she’d considered Nick, she’d never really thought this far ahead, and nothing MacCready did made her want to pretend he was anyone else. No one else made her feel this way. Still, she felt like keeping things distant was good. At least, as distant as she could manage with him being inside of her. “Yeah, I am. Does that bother you?”

 

He chuckled and nipped at the nape of her neck. “Not even a little bit. Pretend I’m anyone you want. I’ll even play along, Doll.”

 

The name made her shudder, but not with pleasure. “Don’t do that,” she whispered.

 

He must have picked up on the change, because he kissed her cheek, as if apologizing. “Let’s forget about that fool, alright?”

 

She nodded. “Yeah.” She folded her arms on the desk and leaned her body forward, letting him plunge into her, his body finding a rhythm that pleased them both.

 

That was the nice thing, she didn’t have to think with him. She didn’t have to question what she did, wonder if she could catch him, if he’d like her. He already liked her, at least parts of her, and she didn’t have to try so damned hard all the time.

 

#

 

MacCready smiled at the way she gave herself to him. It only took a minute for him to get her back to the moaning mess he knew she could be, after his slip up of calling her Doll.

 

She’d frozen when he’d said it, like he’d cut open a wound that wasn’t close to healed. Sure, he’d known about her feelings, but he hadn’t expected that reaction. He’d expected her to bait him some more, not to shut down.

 

Guess that cut was deeper than he’d realized.

 

One of his hands held her hip, the other set flat on her back. He kept the rhythm up, chasing her sounds, the moans that rolled off her tongue. He doubted he’d heard a better sound than those throaty whimpers when he pushed in just right.

 

Too soon, he felt that pressure, knew he was close. He grabbed her shoulder and stood her up, tilting her head back so he could capture a kiss as he came.

 

He slid out of her and tucked himself back into his pants. She retreated to the bathroom, to clean up he’d guess.

 

He couldn’t recall the last time he’d felt so relaxed. This wasn’t like traveling with Nora, and not just because he had no desire to fuck Nora. Everything with Nora was about her mission, about fixing her life. She didn’t seem to have fun the way Ellie did, didn’t settle into the world the way Ellie did.

 

He stared at the door to the bathroom, and frowned.

 

Fuck; he liked her.

 

He liked her a lot.


	7. Chapter 7

“You’re sure?” Ellie sat beside Finn, MacCready standing to the side like a shadow.

 

“Yeah, I’m sure. Your boy came through a week ago, turned up dead the same day.”

 

She rubbed her eyes. Telling Tina was going to hurt, no way around that. It was the part of her job she hated, when she had to tell people their loved ones weren’t coming home. They’d cry, and she’d hold them and cry with them. Nick never managed to be worth a damn in that respect; he left the clients to her.

 

“What killed him?”

 

“No idea. You know me, I don’t get involved in other people’s shit. Keeps me alive longer. Neighbor Watch took the body to Amari, that’s all I know.”

 

“Great. Amari doesn’t like me.”

 

“That’s an understatement. She threatened to have the watch shoot you if you stepped foot in the Memory Den again.” Finn laughed as he tossed his arm over Ellie’s shoulders.

 

 “What did you do to her?” MacCready asked.

 

“We might have gotten into it once.”

 

“Over what?”

 

“Let’s just say her bedside manner leaves something to be desired. I wasn’t a fan of how she treated someone once, and I wasn’t shy about letting her know. So, there’s not a good chance she’s going to help me.”

 

“I know someone who can get her to talk,” MacCready said.

 

“You trusting this kid, now?” Finn nodded toward MacCready. “Thought you had better sense.”

 

“Nick hired him. He didn’t think I could handle myself, though I needed a bodybuard.”

 

“Guess he never saw what you did to Tommy Taylor, huh?”

 

“What did you do to Tommy Taylor?” MacCready lifted an eyebrow.

 

“She-“

 

“-nothing. I did nothing. Shut up, Finn, you’re not being helpful anymore.”

 

Finn laughed, pulling her tighter against his side before pressing a kiss to her head. “Whatever you say, but if you didn’t act like such a damsel maybe people wouldn’t treat you that way.”

 

She brought her elbow into his side before hopping off the short wall. “Thanks for your help. I’ll see you later?”

 

“You better. Be careful.”

 

MacCready wrapped a hand around her arm and pulled her away. “She’ll be fine; I’ll make sure of it.”

 

Ellie blew Finn a kiss, more to rattle MacCready than anything else. He got her around the corner and down the alleyway before he pushed her against the wall. “So what’s up with you and Finn? First Hancock, now Finn. You best buddies with everyone here?”

 

Ellie smiled up at MacCready. “Is this jealousy?”

 

“Getting a little tired of you hanging on everyone.” He leaned in and caught her bottom lip between his teeth, pulling on it before kissing her.

 

Ellie wrapped an arm around his shoulders, lifting her leg up and winding it around his thigh to keep him close. She returned his kiss, getting lost in it. Had she ever had someone want her like this? For someone to be jealous?

 

She’d spent so much of her life around friends, around men who saw her as a sister. They loved her, but they’d never wanted her. They’d never felt any passion, never gripped her the way MacCready did.

 

MacCready groaned and broke the kiss. “I’ve got to go get that person who can help us, alright? Deal is, since I’ve got to leave Goodneighbor, you have to park your ass in the room. Won’t take me more than a couple hours. Deal?”

 

“You haven’t learned by now I can take care of myself here?”

 

“You can take care of yourself, but if Nick hears I let you wandered around by yourself, he’ll take my payment back.”

 

“Always the mercenary.”

 

He kissed her once more, pressing his body against hers so she could feel exactly how much he wanted her. “Always. Now, go on, behave yourself while I’m gone.”

 

Ellie stuck her tongue out as she pulled away, moving below MacCready’s arm.

 

He reached out and swatted her ass once as she walked by. “I’ll be back in a couple hours.”

 

#

 

Ellie followed MacCready into the Memory Den a few hours later. He hadn’t told her who this mystery guest was, only said that he’d come. She’d spent the time pouring over the case files, looking for something new, anything, any lead.

 

She’d found nothing.

 

When he’d come into the room, she’d been so distracted by the files she hadn’t noticed, hadn’t looked up. He’d walked over and leaned in, pressing a kiss to her cheek. Such a small thing, a tiny show of affection, but she’d soaked it up.

 

She imagined how life could be. She’d be working cases, following leads, and he’d be with her. Sure, Nick had been with her before, but it had always been different. Nick was. . . something. MacCready though? He was more.

 

At least, she thought she wanted more.

 

“What is she doing here?” Dr. Amari crossed her arms and took a step backward with Ellie reached the small lab beneath the Memory Den. Yeah, Ellie had been right. No way Amari would be talking to her. She doubted any special guest would help the cause.

 

“She’s here for Nick,” came the voice of the mystery guest. He walked forward from the couch, dressed in a lab coat, bald head, and sunglasses that gave him away.

 

Deacon.

 

How could Deacon help?

 

“Yes, I am aware that Nick has a blind spot when it comes to you. I warned him about you, but he never listens,” Amari said.

 

“It’s not my fault you are better dealing with brains than people.”

 

“I deal with people just fine. You’re the one who gave me a black eye.”

 

“You deserved it. I only wish I’d knocked out a tooth, too!” Ellie went toward Amari, but MacCready caught her with an arm around her waist.

 

“Let’s take it easy, huh?”

 

Deacon walked between them. “Ladies, ladies, you’re both pretty. Look, Amari, Ellie is a friend of ours, okay? So is Nick. Just answer her questions.”

 

“What questions would those be?”

 

Ellie couldn’t move, because MacCready kept his arm around her like she might attack the doctor again. Smart man, she would. “I need to know about the body you found a week ago. His name was Richard Coster, though I don’t know if you knew that. His wife hired me, and Finn told me he was brought here.”

 

“Quite the friends you keep. Criminals and junkies.” Amari’s voice was all condescension.

 

“Answer the question,” Deacon said, voice harder than Ellie had heard it before.

 

The doctor sighed and walked to the filing cabinet. She pulled out a folder and a bag of items. “This is the file and everything he had. We’ve already disposed of the body, so please let his widow know I am sorry if she had plans, but we have no place to store an unclaimed body.” She opened the file, fingers dancing over the words. “Cause of death was a single bullet to his temple. He died instantly, no signs of a struggle, no other wounds.” Her tone left no confusion, she was done with the topic.

 

Deacon took the file and bag, then crossed the distance. He nodded toward up the stairs before walking up them.

 

MacCready released her waist but set a hand on her back, pushing her to follow Deacon, like he thought Ellie might run back at the doctor.

 

Of course, he might not be wrong.

 

Once upstairs, Deacon held the gear just out of reach. “To pay me for this, I want to know what happened with you and Amari. She’s been difficult for years, so I want to know how you got under her skin.”

 

Ellie frowned, trying not to go back, not to think about what had happened, but it didn’t work. As soon as she started the story, it all came back to her. “It was before I left Goodneighbor. A young girl was attacked, raped by a few of Vic's men, and she was seriously hurt. She didn’t make it. Amari tried to throw me out of the room when the girl was dying because I wasn’t family, but the girl didn’t have family, and I wasn’t about to let her die alone. Amari gave me attitude and I gave her a black eye. We haven’t spoken since.”

 

But that didn’t tell the whole story. It didn’t tell them about the blood that had been on the girls thighs, the bruises on her face, the way she’d clutched Ellie’s hand as she’d gasped and cried. Ellie tried to shove it away.

 

Deacon studied her, head titled for a moment, then handed the items over. “I like you. Nick doesn’t give you enough credit, you know that? You ever need a new calling, you come see me. I’ve got friends who would make good use of your skills.” He didn’t wait to hear an answer before walking off, as strange as he ever was when Nora brought him with her. The man was an enigma, but she liked him.

 

Then again, she seemed to like screwed up people.

 

Ellie turned to MacCready. “Thank you for getting Deacon. I had no idea Amari would listen to him.”

 

MacCready leaned his shoulder against the wall. “She and he have a common boss, and I know he’s not a fan of hers. If he can piss someone off, he’ll show up.”

 

“Well, you went over and beyond for me. Can I do anything to repay you?”

 

He snatched her hip and pulled her against him. “You shouldn’t ask men a question like that, we can come up with a lot of stuff to get you into trouble.”

 

“Yeah, you’re the only one to come up with something like that for me. In case you haven’t noticed by my terrible ratio of friends vs lovers, I’m not exactly in high demand.”

 

“Well, lucky me then. I’m not someone who likes competition. How about dinner and drinks somewhere private tonight? Haven’t gotten much time with you to myself. I know you jumped off the Memory Den and that you chum around with criminal and junkies, but that’s about it. I want to know more.”

 

Ellie ignored the flush in her cheeks. The idea that he’d want her as his reward? Not even just sex, but he wanted to know her, he wanted to learn more about her. Yeah, that went straight to her head. “Yeah, I can do that. I’ll gather the stuff. Meet me on the ground floor of the Statehouse just after the sun goes down?”

 

She’d show him a hell of a time.


	8. Chapter 8

MacCready walked into the Statehouse. He’d never been there by himself, only gone when on Nora’s heels. When he’d worked alone, looking for jobs, he’d had no reason to go meet up with Hancock. In his line of work, avoiding people in power was a good way to stay under the radar and alive.

 

Ellie walked in from the door on the other side. She’d changed her outfit, wearing a green dress that buttoned up the front and showed off her thin waist. Not many girls walked around in dresses like Ellie did, and damn, he liked it. He spent so much time around women who’d never be caught dead in a dress, but not her. She was going to wear what she wanted no matter its practicality.

 

“What are we doing here? I’d rather not spend the evening with Hancock.”

 

“Yeah, me either. I got my fill that first night. I just need a key from him.”

 

“Key?” MacCready went up the stairs behind Ellie, who waved at the guards who let her pass.

 

She looked over her shoulder and grinned. “Don’t worry your pretty little head over it.”

 

At the top of the stairs, they walked into Hancock’s office, only the find the mayor sans clothing and handcuffed.

 

And alone.

 

“Sunshine, you come to join in?”

 

“You’re alone, John. Your masturbation has gotten really weird.” Even as Ellie spoke, she walked up to the naked ghoul like it didn’t matter, like she did this all the time.

 

“Gotta keep things interesting. Hate to grow tired of myself.” Hancock gave a mischievous smile, eyes glazed over from some chem.

 

Ellie grabbed the cuffs. “Where are the keys?”

 

“The very lovely lady who put these on me probably took ‘em with her.” John frowned down at his body. “I don’t remember if it was any good, though.”

 

“It probably wasn’t, then. Alright, fine.” Ellie reached up into her hair and pulled two bobby pins out. Her hair fell down around her shoulders, and MacCready resisted the urge to run his fingers through it.

 

She knelt beside Hancock, too close to his goods for MacCready’s taste, but the ghoul could keep his bits since Ellie didn’t seem to notice at all. She slid the bobby pins into the key slot of the handcuffs and popped the lock in under a minute.

 

MacCready grinned. He liked a woman who could pick locks, one who knew her way around the shadier parts of life. She tossed the opened cuffs on the table and threw a blanket over his lap.

 

“To what do I owe this visit?” Hancock grinned like Ellie was the best thing he’d ever seen.

 

“I need a key to the roof.”

 

The smile slid off Hancock’s lips. “You sure you want to go up there?”

 

Ellie nodded, her smile not reaching her eyes. “Yeah. I’m gonna take MacCready up there. Hell of a view, right?”

 

Hancock stood, wrapping the blanket around his waist. “Right. Hell of a view.” He reached into his desk and fished out a key, then tossed it to Ellie.

 

But in his chem addled state, he didn’t get close to her. Ellie stared at the key on the floor, not moving, like the thing might bite her.

 

MacCready leaned down and retrieved it for her.

 

Hancock grasped the desk as he wavered. “I’m here, Elllie, if you need me later.”

 

“Thanks, John, but if you don’t put some pants on, I’m never coming back.”

 

Hancock walked past them and pressed a kiss to Ellie’s check before heading to the room that functioned as his bedroom.

 

Once alone, Ellie still stared at the spot the key had fallen like she'd frozen, like she'd gotten stuck.

 

“Wherever you want to go, we don’t need to.”

 

She jerked her gaze over and slid a tense smile on. “It’s okay. Come on, this way.” Ellie didn’t wait for a response before walking to the stairs and heading up to the top floor. She crossed the attic space to a bookshelf.

 

Dust covered the floor up there. No one had been there in years, if MacCready had to guess. Still, Ellie didn’t hesitate before placing her shoulder against the bookshelf and shoving her weight against it.

 

MacCready came over to help, but it groaned and shifted for her, like she’d done it a hundred times before, like it knew her. Behind the bookshelf sat a door.

 

He held the key out, but she shook her head.

 

“Would you do it?”

 

“Yeah, sure.” MacCready slid the key into the lock and twisted. The door groaned much as the shelf had, like it hadn’t moved in years. Still, a good yank had it opening and revealing a set of stairs.

 

Once on the roof, Ellie slid off her backpack and removed the items. A thin blanket for the ground, two wrapped sandwiches, and a few bottles of beer. She held one out for MacCready. “They’re not that cold, but they’re pretty good quality.”

 

MacCready slid his rifle off and set it on the ground beside him before taking a seat next to Ellie. “It’s great, thanks.”

 

They lapsed into silence, staring out at the city. The roof had a small shelter built on it, something invisible from the street, something MacCready had never noticed before. The ceiling had caved in on it, and little was left but two walls and a lot of scrap, but he could imagine how it had looked years ago.

 

Words crossed Ellie’s face, the way she would open her mouth, then shut it again. She wanted to talk, wanted to tell him what they were doing up there, but nothing was coming out.

 

Alright, guess he’d take the plunge first. “I have a son.”

 

Ellie drew back. “What?”

 

“I’ve got a son; His name is Duncan. I don’t know whatever this is we have going, but figured you ought to know. Some people, they don’t want to get involved with someone with a kid. It’s an extra risk, an extra complication.”

 

“How old is he?”

 

“Four. He was sick, it’s why I came here, but Nora helped me find a cure for him. I’m hoping he’ll get to come out here soon, as soon as he can make the trip at least.” He studied the buildings that dotted the skyline instead of Ellie, because he wasn’t sure what he’d see on her face.

 

“When he gets out here, I’d like to meet him. I mean, if that’s alright with you.”

 

MacCready turned his gaze to her and offered a lazy smile. “Yeah, I think I’d like that. He’d like you, too. He, well, he talks a lot. He’s more like his mother than like me, which is probably a blessing. I can’t imagine trying to raise one of me.”

 

“Where is his mother?”

 

“His mother, Lucy, she was my wife. Just after Duncan was born, we took shelter in a subway. We didn’t see the ferals until it was too late. I was lucky to get Duncan out of there.” That failure burned in his chest, the reminder that Lucy was gone and that it was, still, his fault. It had been his job to keep her safe, to keep Duncan safe, and he’d done neither of those things. She’d been torn apart and Duncan had gotten sick. It was only Nora’s help that saved his son.

 

Warmth pressed against his arm. Ellie had scooted over until she leaned against his side. “I’m sorry about Lucy.”

 

“It was a long time ago. Just seemed like you brought me up here wanting to say something and I figured, why not start with some secret of my own.” He put an arm over her shoulder, pulling her closer.

 

“You know what the town was like before John took over?”

 

“I’ve heard some stories, but I wasn’t here for it.”

 

She nodded, still staring off. “Before Vic, it was okay. Not as good as with John, but okay. Then Vic came along, the sadistic bastard, and he sort of enabled others to be sadistic bastards. When Vic’s boys would go on a tear, I’d gather up the kids I could find and sneak ‘em up here. Only a few of us knew about the secret door behind the bookshelf. Finn, Daisy, John, me. Of course, those three never used it. Daisy didn’t get any strife because her shop was too important. Finn and John weren’t about to hide. I stayed up with the kids in case anyone found the door.”

 

MacCready tightened his grip around her, because he knew the wasteland enough to know this wasn’t going to end well. Even if her reluctance hadn’t said it, if John’s hesitation hadn’t, he just knew that life liked to screw people. “I’m gonna guess they found it?”

 

She shook her head. “Not exactly. One night one of the girls was missing. We always met up at the same place and she didn’t show. So I locked the rest of ‘em up here and went looking for her.”

 

MacCready frowned. “The girl you fought with Amari over?”

 

“Yeah. Her name was Hannah. She was thirteen. I was fifteen, so being older, I thought I needed to keep everyone else safe.” Ellie’s voice lowered, laced in pain. It played in her eyes like it hadn’t happened years ago, but just yesterday.

 

“You found her afterward?”

 

Ellie shook her head. “That might have been easier. No, I found her before. We just ran into some trouble on the way back. We ended up separated and, well, you know. She didn’t make it. After that I spent some time in Diamond City, where I met Nick. I mean, I’d seen him before, but I’d never spoken to him. I wasn’t in a great place, and he took me in. Gave me a job, a place to live, got me out of Goodneighbor.”

 

MacCready could understand Nick a bit better after that story. He’d met Ellie when she’d been broken, devastated by the loss of Hannah and blaming herself. After picking her up and getting her on her feet, Nick probably had a hard time seeing her as anything else.

 

“Haven’t been back up here since that night. I gave the key to Daisy before I left. I knew Daisy would look after the kids, and it wasn’t long before John took over and strung Vic up anyway. It’s why I do what I do, why I help Nick. I want to help, to make this world a little better. I couldn’t save Hannah, but I know I’ve saved others, and that’s what keeps me going.”

 

Yeah, he’d pegged her for the selfless kind. Not his thing, but he could respect it. Sometimes. Still, it helped him understand her.

 

“You going to tell me about Tommy Taylor?”

 

She didn’t crack a smile, haunted eyes returning to the shack. “No, I’m not. That’s a story that doesn’t need repeating, trust me. Besides, it’s your turn. Tell me about you and Nora.”

 

“What’s there to tell? She found me in the Third Rail and had the good sense to hire me. I’ve followed her damn near everywhere since then, even out into the Glowing Sea.”

 

Ellie pursed her lips. “And what is it between you two? You don’t seem jealous over her and Nick.”

 

“Jealous? Hell no. Nora and I are, at best, friends. She’s a little too straight laced for my taste. I like women with a bit more fun in them. I think her and Nick are perfect because they can be dull and boring together. You know, they have the same exact look on their face when I pickpocket anyone.”

 

“Oh, trust me, I know. Nick gives me that look all the time. The first time he caught me pickpocketing he sat me down for a lecture.”

 

“Oh yeah, your nimble fingers any good at it?”

 

She leaned over and brushed her lips against his, teasing him until he wrapped a hand behind her neck to pull her closer.

 

She broke the kiss and held up a stimpack. MacCready patted his pockets to realize she’d gotten it not from the outside pocket of his duster, but from his pants pocket.

 

“Oh, I like that.”

 

She grinned and handed it back. “When you grow up pretty much on the streets, you learn the skills that will keep you alive. I never pickpocketed in Goodneighbor, though. This is the sort of town that will kill you for that. Diamond City had better marks, anyway. You could make a killing in an hour or two if you could sneak into the upperstands.”

 

MacCready laughed as he leaned back. Yeah, Ellie was his sort of girl. She wasn’t vicious, but she was smart and did whatever it took to survive. He knew what it was like to grow up without parents, to have to make it on your own. The people who survived that grew tough, no matter what Nick wanted to believe.

 

“So, look, I’m not good at this talking sh-stuff. But, I kind of like you. I just figured you should probably know that.”

 

Ellie smiled like he’d charmed her, like he’d just recited her some epic pre-war poem instead of a stumbled over ‘I like you’ that belonged more on the lips of a six-year-old with a crush than an adult man.

 

But, whatever. He did like her.

 

Ellie slid into his lap, her dress ridding up as she straddled him. “Why don’t you show me how much you like me?”

 

He slid his hands up her thighs beneath her dress. “You like me too, admit it.”

 

“Kind of.”

 

MacCready laughed and rolled her over so he was perched above her.

 

Maybe kind of was an understatement.


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, Ellie woke to the blinding sun on the roof. Sure, sex beneath the stars was a great idea after a few beers, but morning afters were less fun. Everything hurt from sleeping on the hard surface and the sun seared her bare skin.

 

MacCready grumbled and pulled her back against him when she tried to sit up. “It’s way too early.”

 

“I’m gonna burn up here. Not like I’m wearing anything.”

 

He grinned but didn’t open his eyes. Instead, he reached over and grabbed his duster then pulled it over her. “There. Now go back to sleep.”

 

Ellie leaned over and kissed his cheek. “I can’t. I’ve got work to do. I still haven’t gone over the stuff from Amari.”

 

“I like you, but I like sleep more.”

 

She took his earlobe between her teeth and nipped. “That isn’t very nice. Fine, let’s head to the room and you can go back to sleep while I work. Deal?”

 

He grumbled but ended up getting up. Probably only because he knew she’d leave him there if he didn’t.

 

Back in the room, she let MacCready lay back down as she spread out the paperwork and items in the bag on the table. Amari’s notes said what she’d told her, just with extra jargon.

 

It had to be an execution. The shot was too perfect, the set up too easy. Whoever killed him had been expecting him, and he either gave in or was surprised.

 

His gear gave little away. The clothing he’d been wearing, the supplies he’d bought from Myrna, no extra caps. Had he not planned on staying? Was he meeting someone else? He’d need caps for food and a place to stay, so why would he not have any? Or were they just stolen?

 

No, if someone went through that trouble they’d have taken the stimpacks on him, too.

 

Ellie rubbed her eyes in frustration. Maybe she wasn’t as good at this as Nick. Maybe Nick was right about this whole stupid thing, because right then she just couldn’t see it.

 

Something in the pocket of his pants caught her attention. She pulled it out: a piece of paper, folded neatly. She opened it to find writing in perfect, block letters.

 

_Wednesday, 11pm, warehouse beside Memory Den_

 

Wednesday meant tonight.

 

Finally, a lead, something. Coster must have been meeting someone then, it had to be why he’d come. Sure, she could go back and tell his wife he was dead, but she wanted to do more. She wanted to be able to say why he’d died, and maybe even be able to say that she’d gotten some justice. She shoved the note into her own pocket. She’d have to tell MacCready about it later, after she had some time to think out a plan.

 

An hour later, MacCready tossed in his sleep, eyebrows drawn together. Ellie went and sat on the bed beside him.

 

He was younger than she’d realized at first. He couldn’t be more than twenty-two. Strange to think of him having a child, of him having already lost a wife. She was only a few years older, but maybe it was the life he’d lead that made her feel like the young one. She’d done plenty, but all within two cities and the small swatch of territory between them. He’d come from the Capital Wasteland, been all over the Commonwealth.

 

He made a mockery of her experience, and she could see it in the way he carried himself.

 

His face jerked to the side, a broken groan escaping his lips. A nightmare?

 

When he repeated the action and whispered a name, Ellie’s frowned. _Lucy_.

 

He was dreaming about Lucy, and judging from the way he tossed, it wasn’t a good dream. Probably when the ferals had killed her, when he’d been forced to grab their son and run.

 

Ellie reached down and set a hand on his arm. “Wake up, MacCready.”

 

He froze, eyes snapping open, then blinking as he took in the room. “I was dreaming?”

 

“I think you were having a nightmare.”

 

He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and leaning forward. His chest rose and fell as he drug his fingers through his hair. “Sorry,” he said, voice soft.

 

“For what?”

 

“I don’t know. For being a pansy?” He tilted his head to give her a soft smile, but the sadness still laid behind it. He loved his wife. Hell, he probably always would, and she couldn’t even blame him. She wanted to find that, a connection with someone that stuck with you, even if you lost them.

 

Ellie pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Nothing pansy about nightmares. They’re just a reminder that we survived hell.”

 

He nodded, taking in a deep breath then releasing it slowly. “Thanks. Guess I’m up, now. How about a walk? I think I could use some fresh air.”

 

“Sounds good, MacCready.” She went to stand and he grabbed her arm. “What?”

 

“Call me RJ. We’re a little past last names, aren’t we?”

 

She tried to hide the smile and accompanying blush. “Okay, RJ.”

 

#

 

Ellie smiled as she walked beside MacCready. It all went so easy for them. She wasn’t trying to catch his attention, wasn’t trying to force something between them, create a bond that wasn’t there. She just. . . was.

 

And he seemed as happy. It had taken a good fifteen minutes for MacCready to relax after the nightmare, to ease back into his normal, snarky self. Now he walked so close they’d bump into each other now and then, tiny touches that warmed her.

 

Ellie would point and tell stories about growing up there, about the time she and Finn had brought home a mutant hound puppy, and the resulting scar on her calf from it. MacCready laughed, asked questions, like her life was fascinating to him.

 

Had Nick ever asked anything about her past? No, because after the state she’d been in when she’d wound up at his place, he’d assumed her life wasn’t a book worth opening. He didn’t understand  that while it hadn’t been all good, it had been hers. Everything was black and white with him.

 

“You were a hell raiser, weren’t you?”

 

She shrugged. “I didn’t think so, not compared to Finn or John. I was the level-headed one.”

 

He laughed and caught her arm so she came around and pressed against him. One hand on the small of her back kept her in place. “I doubt they’d agree with that.” He leaned in, bypassing her lips to press a kiss to the side of her neck. His tongue slid against her pulse, before sucking at her skin, leaving a sting she knew would turn into a hickey.

 

Ellie pushed him back, though he didn’t release his hand on her back, keeping her against him. “Stop marking me, RJ.”

 

“I like marking you, especially since you seem to hang all over men.”

 

“You’re impossible,” she said, but she knew damned well her voice was full of humor. She liked that he wanted to leave a mark on her, like she was his and he wanted others to know it.

 

A hand wrapped around Ellie’s arm and yanked her out of MacCready’s grasp.

 

Of course, he wasn’t slow. He had the pistol from his belt out and pointed at the person who held her. She was reminded that MacCready wasn’t someone to underestimate. The gun didn’t even waver in his hand, his face all hard lines. “Yeah, manhandling her isn’t going to happen.”

 

Ellie turned and met Nick’s yellow eyes and furious face. His lips had twisted into as close a snarl as she’d ever seen on his face.

 

“I hired you to keep an eye on her. Just what the hell do you think you’re doing?”

 

Nora ran up beside Nick, but she didn’t touch him like she knew the delicate balance. “What the fuck, Nick? Let her go.”

 

The click of the safety said MacCready wasn’t going to give him much longer to release her. “Last chance.”

 

Nora slid between the two men. “Okay then. Nick, let her go. MacCready, drop the gun. Why don’t we all go inside and have a chat instead of doing whatever this is outside?”

 

Nick nodded and let her go. Ellie moved back over to MacCready’s side, so he holstered his pistol, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her against his side. Right then she realized, she’d made her choice.

 

A few weeks before she’d have picked Nick over anyone, but had it even been Nick? No, it had been an idea. It had been a savior that she’d decided she loved because he’d been there for her. But she hadn’t gone to Nick right then, she’d clung to MacCready, to the man who saw her as capable, to the man who wanted her.

 

She still loved Nick, but for the first time, she realized she didn’t love him the way she’d thought she had. Did she love MacCready?

 

Hell, she didn’t know, but she knew she understood it better than she had before.

 

Nick’s gaze locked on the movement, and the way she’d gone to MacCready and not him. He narrowed his eyes before jerking his gaze away.

 

This wasn’t going to be a fun conversation.


	10. Chapter 10

 

MacCready frowned as he escorted Ellie into the Statehouse. For what was shaping up to be an ugly conversation, he supposed the Statehouse gave a bit more privacy.

 

Hancock had grinned at the four of them, then took a seat in the corner to watch the fireworks.

 

And judging from the set of Nick’s shoulders, there would be fireworks. The synth kept eyeing MacCready like he was going to cross the room and throw a punch. Not that MacCready minded, he tended to fight dirty, so he'd take on Nick if he had to. 

 

Nora? She looked tired, like the whole fight had already worn her out.

 

“I didn’t hire you to sleep with her.” Nick didn’t look at Ellie, his eyes on MacCready.

 

But, MacCready had no chance to answer before Ellie pulled away from him and stomped up to stand chest to chest with Nick, even though she had to look up into his face.

 

She jammed a finger into his chest. “Who I sleep with is none of your damn business. You’ve made it pretty damn clear you’ve never had an interest in me, but when I move on, you have a temper tantrum?”

 

“This isn’t a temper tantrum, doll. I’m angry because he’s taking advantage of you!”

 

Nora scooted back until she was standing beside MacCready. “So this won’t be pretty.”

 

“Yeah, I’m getting that feeling. Who’s gonna win?”

 

“Oh, that’s easy. Ellie. Nick’s a pushover when it comes to her. He’s going to hiss, but he’ll run out of steam before long.”

 

“I’m just glad you got over the desire to have sex with me without all this fighting. Would have been embarrassing for us both.”

 

“You wish, Mac. You’re not my type.”

 

“Clearly, you like them boring and metal.”

 

She laughed and they took a seat on the couch to watch Nick and Ellie continue.

 

“He isn’t taking advantage of me. I like him, okay? Not that I have to explain anything to you. You’re not my keeper.”

 

“You need a keeper to stop you from doing stupid things like this.”

 

“That’s why you’re here? To bitch at me about who I decide to fuck?”

 

Nick flinched at the harsh word. “No. I came to check in on the case.”

 

Ellie sucked in a breath and took a step back. “I told you I was going to handle it. It’s my case, not yours.”

 

“Stop this foolishness, Ellie. Come home already. We’ll forget this all happened, go back to working together like we did. I’ll take back over this case and you won’t have to worry about it.”

 

“You don’t think I can do it, do you?”

 

He crossed his arms. “Well, you haven’t yet, have you?”

 

Hancock hissed from his spot in the corner. “Oh, bad choice tinman.”

 

That was MacCready’s sign. He got up just as Ellie started to walk toward Nick again. She was pissed right then, but she’d forgive Nick, and she’d be upset if she said or did anything impulsive.

 

“Let’s let this sit, huh?”

 

When Ellie pulled against the arm he wrapped around her, he turned her over his shoulder and lifted her. Nora offered him a mock salute and a grin that seemed to be wishing him luck.

 

“Put me down or I swear I’ll castrate you,” she threatened against his back.

 

“That’ll really only hurt you, Ellie, because I know you enjoy that area. You need to cool down. You and Nick can fight it out again later.”

 

She threw out a few more insults, but he managed to get her back to their room before setting her down. She went for the door, but he used a hand to pin it closed.

 

“I’m not done with him.”

 

“Yeah, you are. He’s being a fool right now, but you guys will work it out.”

 

“No, we won’t. He thinks I’m an idiot.”

 

MacCready set a hand behind her neck, rubbing his thumb against her jaw. “No, he’s just an idiot. He’ll figure it out. You guys are family, you’ll work it out. However, you punching him would probably break your fist and you’d feel bad about it later. So, why don’t you take it easy?”

 

“I can’t. I want to go back there and scream at him some more.”

 

The flush of her cheeks and the rising and falling of her chest reminded him of other, far more fun ways to wind her up. She needed an outlet for all the anger?

 

Hell, he wouldn’t mind helping her work it out.

 

He grabbed her waist and turned her back to the door. He undid his pants, lowering them only enough to pull himself from the confines of the cloth.

 

She reached for him but he turned her to face the door and pinned her hands above her head. “Don’t think you deserve to play, Ellie. You haven’t exactly been on good behavior.”

 

“Shut up, RJ.”

 

Hell, he liked his name on her lips. He leaned in and bit down on her neck before sliding his fingers beneath her panties and along her slit to test for readiness. When satisfied, he pulled the panties to the side, lined himself up and sunk in, hard and fast.

 

This wasn’t the time to go slow, to go slow and gentle. He wanted to wear her out, to steal all the energy she wanted to use to fight with Nick. He wanted her to take that all out on him.

 

She jerked on her hands, but he held them steady above her. He wanted her still, just accepting everything he had to give.

 

His free hand ran down her back, over the cloth of the dress. He had to admit, he enjoyed screwing her while she was still dressed. He got some filthy thrill out of reaching up the cloth of her dress, like he was sneaking something he wasn’t supposed to.

 

She pressed her forehead against the wall, a soft moan on her lips. He liked that sound, liked the way her hips had started to push back against him, seeking more, deeper, like she couldn’t get enough of him.

 

“I like the fire in you, but I have to admit, I like screwing it out of you, too. Once I’m done with you, you won’t have the energy to get up let alone to go fight with anyone.”

 

Her hands drew into fists, still held above her, her cunt tightening down on him.

 

“You like hearing me tell you these things, huh? I know you do, I can feel what it does to you. You can’t hide a thing. You might be an amazing thief, but you aren’t a liar.” He snapped his hips forward, hard enough she gasped. “I like that sound. Think I can hear it again?” He repeated the motion, rewarded with another gasp.

 

He released her hip and reached around her, finding her clit. It only took a few caresses before she came. He released her arms to save her some shoulder pain as her body twisted beneath the waves of pleasure that had her back arching and her cunt squeezing him.

She sagged against the wall, her knees quivering.

 

“You done fighting, yet?”

 

She nodded weakly.

 

MacCready turned her and lifted her, wrapping her legs around his waist, carrying her toward the bed.

 

“What are you doing?”

 

He pressed a kiss to the bite at her throat. “Well, we can’t be too careful, can we? I’m going to make damn sure you’re too tired to go after Nick again, and I plan to be thorough.” He laid her down on the bed beneath him.

 

“How thorough?”

 

He kissed down her body as he spread her thighs. When he slid his body between her legs, his lips pressing to her cleft, he cast a grin up at her. “Very thorough.”


	11. Chapter 11

Ellie slid from the bed hours later. MacCready slept soundly, but she couldn’t blame him for that. He’d worked hard. Had she ever had someone who tried as hard as he did to please her? Someone who touched her like he couldn’t get enough?

 

She smiled as she stared down at him, at the way his arm draped over her side of the bed like he searched for her, even after she’d already gotten up.

 

She wrapped her fingers around the note in her pocket.

 

Nick didn’t think she could handle this. He didn’t trust her, didn’t believe she was capable. It was the reason he’d come, to tempt her back and for him to handle the case. Even after everything she’d done for him, he didn’t really believe she could do it.

 

Finn’s words echoed in her head. She did act like a damsel. She’d allowed Nick to take lead, to follow him because it felt safer. And, yes, when she’d met him she’d needed that. She’d grown comfortable in his shadow, and it had been necessary while she healed. But now? Now it had become a crutch for her, one she no longer wanted.

 

She could wake MacCready, ask him to go with her, but damn it, she wanted to do this on her own. Nick solved cases by himself, and if MacCready was with her, Nick would always believe it was him, not her, who’d done it.

 

She’d lived in Nick’s shadow for too long, forgetting about who she was, what she could do. She’d allowed him to shoulder all the responsibility, to take on the job of taking care of her.

 

She had to prove it to him, to herself, to everyone that she could do this. That she was just as capable as he was.

 

Ellie took her pistol and set it in the holster she secured around her waist. She wrote a note to tell MacCready not to worry, just in case he woke up before she returned. The last thing she wanted was for him to worry.

 

He deserved more than that.

 

Once she’d completed that, she slid from the room.

 

Ellie avoided seeing anyone as she crept through town. While John and Finn both thought her capable, neither would be happy about her meeting a stranger on a fool’s errand alone, and this was something she needed to do alone.

 

The alleyway in front of the warehouse sat silent and still. She twisted the door handle, a slow turn to avoid sound. Unlocked.

 

Of course it was unlocked, they were expecting Coster.

 

She slid into the building.

 

No one moved, no sounds cluing her in on where anyone was. Had they heard about Coster’s death? Maybe no one was there. Ellie went up the stairs, quiet.

 

As she turned the corner at the top, something touched her shoulder. Pain tore through her body as someone pressed a shock baton against her.

 

She fell and blacked out.

 

#

 

A banging on the door woke MacCready. He reached for Ellie, but his hand found nothing.

 

Frowning, he sat up. No Ellie in the room at all.

 

The knocking continued, accompanied by Nick’s voice, soft, like he was trying to make up. “Open up, Ellie. I brought coffee.”

 

MacCready pulled on his pants, then open the door. He reached out and took the cup of coffee while Nick made an effort to pretend he didn’t notice MacCready’s shirtless state. “Thanks.”

 

“That’s not for you, it’s for Ellie.”

 

“Well, she isn’t here and I’d hate for it to go to waste.”

 

“What do you mean she isn’t here? Where is she?”

 

A note on the desk caught MacCready’s attention. He lifted it and read it out loud. “RJ, I’m sorry to leave without saying anything, but I have a lead. I know you’d go with me, but I have to do this on my own. I need to show Nick I can, I need to show myself I can. I’ll be back soon, so don’t worry.”

 

Nick grabbed the note from MacCready’s hands like maybe he’d read it wrong. “This is all your fault. She never acted like this before.”

 

“Not my fault. Unrequited love never goes well.”

 

“You don’t understand.”

 

“Oh yeah? Why don’t you explain it to me then, Valentine, because from what I’ve seen, that girl has been following you around for scraps of attention for years, and you’ve not only never given her the time of day but not a bit of respect, either.”

 

“I respect her, but this work? It’s not for her. You really want her facing off against criminals and raiders?”

 

“She can do a lot more than you give her credit for.”

 

Nick slammed his fist down on the desk before all but collapsing into a chair. “You don’t understand. You don’t know her past.”

 

MacCready rolled his eyes. “She told me about Hannah. I know why she left Goodneighbor.”

 

Nick shook his head, rubbing the bridge of his nose with his good hand. “Yeah, and if that’s what you think drove her from Goodneighbor I bet she didn’t tell you the whole story. Sit, kid, and let me explain it to you.”

 

MacCready fought the urge to argue against being called kid, because he wanted to hear whatever the synth had to say. He took a seat on the edge of the bed. “So, go on, let me know what you think she didn’t tell me.”

 

Nick’s metal fingers tapped against the table, and it took him a minute before he spoke, like he was gathering his thoughts. “I’d seen her around for a while, running around with John, stealing from the better off in town. She never spoke to me, but I’d noticed her. She was smart, tough. Hard not to notice that. Then, one night, I open my dooor to find her outside my office. She was bloodied, beat to hell, and crying.”

 

MacCready frowned. She’d told him about Hannah being raped, but what had happened to. . .

 

Fuck.

 

He stopped as he remembered the story. She’d said they’d been separated, but she didn’t say she’d escaped Vic’s men. MacCready had just assumed.

 

Nick nodded, like he understood the jump MacCready had made. “She never talked about it after that first night. I think she was still in shock that night, only reason she told me. I cleaned her up. You have any idea what it’s like to wipe blood off someone’s thighs? When she went to find that girl, they both got caught by a few of Vic’s boys. The leader of the group took Ellie, the others took Hannah. Hell, she lucked out, I guess. She survived it, and I know the other girl didn’t. So, I took her in. I gave her a job, taught her a trade, got her away from that city.” He shifted in his seat, leaning back and sighing. “I know I’m over protective. It isn’t that I don’t think she can do anything, it’s that I still see that girl, all bloodied and broken and I never want her to suffer like that again. I remember the nights she woke up screaming, then how she’d take a deep breath, say sorry, and lie back down like nothing happened. I watched her rebuild herself and I never want to see her torn down again.”

 

MacCready leaned forward, thinking about how she’d woken him up from the nightmare about Lucy, how sweet she’d been. Yeah, she understood nightmares better than he’d thought.

 

To think she’d suffered and still grown so strong. It hadn’t broken her, hadn’t taken her down. She’d risen above it because she was tough stock.

 

“I get why you worry, but you can’t keep her from doing anything. Especially with you and Nora. No, wait, I get it. I know you didn’t ask for her to fall for you, but she did, and what do you expect? Her to sit at your office while you and Nora prance around together in front of her?”

 

“She never wanted me, not really. I was safe, that was it. I helped her and she confused that affection for love. I don’t like whatever this is you two have going, but Nora talked with me last night, and reminded me that I can’t expect Ellie to be a kid forever. She needs companionship and she could do worse.” Nick’s face said he wasn’t all that happy about the little revolution. “So, I’m not loving the idea of you and her, but I want her happy. She deserves that.”

 

“I’m not taking advantage of her, Nick. I want you to know that. This isn’t some game I’m playing. I like her, a lot, and I think she likes me too. I don’t know where it’s going, but I’m not just screwing around.”

 

Nick nodded, shrewd eyes on MacCready. “Good. Because, I’m not a violent man, but you hurt her, and I’ll make an exception.”

 

MacCready laughed. “Guess we’ve come to an understanding.”

 

“How can you be so calm while she’s out there?”

 

“I’m not calm. I’m as worried as I’d be about anyone, but I trust her. She’s smart, and she’s good with people, and she’s tough. I grew up on my own too, you know? People who have to raise themselves, we grow a strength other people don’t have. I see that in Ellie. Trust me, some missing person case isn’t going to take her down.”

 

“I hope you’re right.” Nick held out a cigarette. “Now we just have to wait till she shows.”

 

MacCready took the cigarette and could only hope he was right. He wasn’t ready to lose Ellie yet.  


	12. Chapter 12

 

Ellie came to on a floor. She didn’t move as she tried to wake fully. Voices floated toward her.

 

“Who the hell is she?”

 

“We might know if you hadn’t knocked her out.”

 

“What did you want me to do? She came around and I had the baton. Wasn’t like I was expecting her.”

 

“Fine. I’ve got to get back, I think I know where he is. When she wakes up, I want answers. Find out if anyone knows she’s here. I don’t want anything tying back to us, understand? No loose ends. After you get what you need, deal with her. We'll meet in a few days in Diamond City when it's all over, okay?”

 

She frowned. He? Did they not know Coster was dead?

 

“Understood.”

 

Footsteps followed the man as he left, and Ellie tried to keep her breathing even as she tested tiny moves. Her hands didn’t appear to be bound, her ankles either. She laid on a flat ground, not on a mattress of couch.

 

A door opened, then closed. The man must have left, but the other was somewhere around.

 

She risked cracking her eyes open to a slit. Yep, on the floor. Her hair covered her face, obscuring her vision. She couldn’t get a read on the room.

 

Ellie took one more deep breath, then jumped to her feet. She bolted for the door. She was fast, and if she could get outside, she could escape.

 

Something tangled in her hair, yanking her back, throwing her into a dresser against the wall. Her lip hit the furniture, splitting it. Ellie used the back of her arm to wipe away the blood before she reached for her gun.

 

Gone.

 

“I took that already. Why don’t you calm down, honey?”

 

Ellie used a grip on the dresser to pull herself to her feet. She turned to the man who spoke, the same one who had been told to question her and then kill her.

 

She didn’t recognize him. Just another man in raider leathers, someone she wouldn’t have looked twice at. “Who are you?”

 

“Name is Kenny. Who are you?”

 

“Ellie.”

 

“Ellie? Nick Valentine’s secretary? From Diamond City?”

 

She nodded. “I grew up here. I was just poking around for old times’ sake.”

 

The man smiled, a cold grin that sent a shudder down her spine. Smiles like that came from men who had rotted from the inside. “That’s a lie. You doing Valentine’s work here? Wouldn’t expect him to send a little girl out here. Who knows what could happen to a little girl.”

 

Ellie reached her arm behind her, feeling along the dresser for something to use, anything. “He didn’t send me. I told you, I’m just looking around.”

 

He walked toward her, steps heavy.

 

For a moment Ellie thought back to the night with Tommy, to the way his steps had thundered in the room, or hell, had that been her heart?

 

No, she wasn’t there. Fucking focus.

 

“You’re pretty, you know that? I don’t want to hurt you, honey. Just tell me why you’re here. Who knows you’re here?”

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She found nothing on the dresser she could use, so she moved to the left, trying to keep some space between her and Kenny. “Just let me go, okay? I won’t say anything, I swear.”

 

“I’ll let you go, just as soon as you tell me the truth.”

 

Liar. Ellie heard exactly what was going to happen. He’d get his answers, then kill her. At least, he’d kill her right away if she was lucky, but from the leer on his face, she wasn’t going to be lucky. Kenny stood between the door and her, and she wasn’t going to outrun him. She’d guess she was still inside the warehouse, though with the boarded-up windows it was impossible to tell. Screaming wouldn’t help, this warehouse was far enough back that no one would hear her, and if they did, well Goodneighbor wasn’t the sort of place that worried about a little screaming.

 

He reached out and grabbed her arm, yanking her forward. Ellie struck his chest and, out of instinct more than plan, lifted her knee into his groin.

 

Kenny’s breath came out in a whoosh, hot and sour against her face, before he swung his hand and slapped her across the face. It knocked her down, but at least it gave her a bit more distance.

 

She shook away the pain, the way her brain stuttered for a moment from the impact. Instead, she scooted further away as she took in the rest of the room. Nothing useful. A mattress in the corner – she ignored that, couldn’t let her head go there – the dresser, a chair, a side table.

 

There.

 

Beneath the side table, a pair of scissors pushed back against the wall. Impossible to see unless you were on the floor.

 

Ellie pulled her legs beneath her and tried to bolt for the weapon.

 

Kenny’s hand closed around her ankle, pulling the foot from beneath her, sending her back down to the ground and knocking the air from her lungs. “Could have been nice and easy. Fuck Frank's orders. No way anyone sent you, you’re too dumb. I’m just gonna enjoy you until I kill you.” He pulled her over, onto her back, but she pulled her leg up and stomped down on his hand.

 

His grip loosened enough for her to pull away, so she got back to her feet. The groaning of the floor said he was just as fast.

 

She darted for the side table, for her only chance. Her dress pulled against her as Kenny grabbed a handful of it. It threw her off balance and her hip struck the low bedframe.

 

“You’ve got some fight in you, huh? Yeah, I’ll take care of that for you.” He closed his hand around her throat as he pinned her to the mattress. She dug the nails of one hand into his wrist while her other clutched beneath the nightstand.

 

Just a little further. Her nails scrapped against the ground for the extra inch.

 

Kenny set a hand on her thigh, digging his fingers in, but she couldn’t draw enough air to whimper.

 

Ellie’s fingers brushed the metal. She edged the scissors closer until she wrapped her hand around it.

 

One chance, that was all she’d get. She knew it in the way her vision wavered, black spots appearing at the corners.

 

But one chance was all it would take. She had one chance with Tommy and she’d taken it.

 

Ellie swung the sharp end of the scissors up, aiming for his temple. She wanted them to sink into the soft spot there, but they didn’t. They sliced his face, blood spilling down and his grip loosening.

 

Loose wasn’t good enough.

 

Ellie use her legs to twist him to the right, knocking him off the bed, though she went with him. His head hit the side table, rewarding her with something that fell between a groan and a scream.

 

Killing wasn’t something Ellie liked to do, wasn’t something she’d done much of, but when she thought about MacCready, about his face if he learned she’d died, it made it easy. He’d lost his wife, he shouldn’t suffer through another loss.

 

So Ellie clutched the scissors in both hands and brought them down into Kenny’s chest. Once? Twice? She lost count.

 

After he stopped moving, she pulled herself away and threw up in a corner. Everything she'd eaten evacuated, until she gasped, trying to draw breath in. She shook, her knees weak, her body fading after the spike of adrenaline.

 

She pulled on a jacket by the door to hide the blood that covered her. She didn’t need anyone asking questions, not yet.

 

What she needed was MacCready.


	13. Chapter 13

MacCready took a deep breath when the door to his room opened. Finally, she was back.

 

Then he saw her and all that relief fled.

 

She had a jacket he didn’t recognize wrapped around her, but that didn’t hide the swollen lip or blood down her chin and throat. It didn’t hide the fingerprints at her throat.

 

MacCready was off the bed and in front of her in a heartbeat. He wrapped an arm around her, taking her weight, a good thing since she all but collapsed when he did it. “Come on, Ellie, let’s get you sitting.”

 

Nick had risen to his feet, but hadn’t moved otherwise. He stared, eyebrows drawn together, locked into whatever what was going onto his head.

 

MacCready pushed Nick to the back of his attention. Nick didn’t matter right then; right then Ellie mattered.

 

He got her sitting on the bed before crouching in front of her. She didn’t meet his gaze, just stared off at the far wall.

 

“Hey there, will you look at me?” He touched her chin, moving her head to survey for damage. Split lip, bruising on her cheek. Bruises at her throat. He removed the jacket, slowly, noting how she winced as she moved.

 

Blood had soaked down the front of her dress, but it was too much for it to be all hers.

 

“Whose blood is this, Ellie?”

 

“Would you have John go to the warehouse beside the Memory Den? There’s a body that needs to be dealt with.” Her voice came out rough. The bruises at her throat were to blame.

 

“Yeah, Doll, I’ll take care of that.” Nick retreated, closing the door behind him.

 

As soon as the door clicked shut, Ellie bent forward, arms wrapped around her waist. She shook, breath coming in uneven, shallow beats.

 

MacCready rubbed his hand against her back. “Deeper breaths, Ellie, or you’re gonna pass out.”

 

“I killed him.” Her clothing muffled her voice, her head resting on her legs.

 

“Good.”

 

“I can’t breathe, RJ.”

 

“Yeah, you can.” He took her hand and pressed it against his chest. “Follow along with me. Nice and slow.”

 

She pressed her forehead against his, one hand pressed against his chest the other wrapped in his duster in a crushing grip. Her breathing slowed, moment by moment.

 

“Better.” He wanted to brush his lips against hers, but between her split lip and the bruises he spotted on her thigh where her dress had ridden up, kissing her was probably a bad idea. “You ready to tell me what happened?”

 

“There was a note in Coster’s pocket with a time and date for a meeting. Showed up, but the people there weren’t exactly happy to see me.”

 

He rubbed his thumb against her cheek. “Judging from the body, seems like you handled yourself.”

 

“You should make sure there aren’t any scissors on the floor before you try to kill people, I guess.”

 

MacCready released a soft laugh. Her humor helped him stay calm. She was safe, so no matter what else happened, no matter what was next, she was there. After losing Lucy, he knew what the worst case scenario was. He knew how it felt to know nothing could be done. Surviving mattered, and she’d survived. They could deal with the rest.

 

“Don’t leave me behind next time, huh? I hate when you get to have all the fun without me.”

 

She leaned closer, brushing her lips against his, just like he’d wanted. He held still, letting her do as much or as little as she wanted. After a minute, she pulled back. “I need to wash off. John’s got a shower, and he’ll let me use it.” Her gaze fell to the front of her dress. “I ruined it. I liked this dress. I looked good in this dress.”

 

MacCready stood and held his hand out to her. “We’ll buy you a new one, okay? I think you look good in anything. Come on, let’s wash you up.”

 

Ellie took his hand without hesitation. “Nick’s never going to let me go outside again.”

 

He pulled her up and wrapped an arm around her. “Don’t worry, I’ll sneak you out.”

 

#

 

Ellie took a deep breath as MacCready shut the door to John’s bathroom. Showers were a luxury few had, but Vic had set the system up during his time in power. He’d wanted the best, as a status symbol, and a shower was the best.

 

John never used it, judging it a waste of resources. She must look worse than she realized, because one look at her had him shoving her toward the bathroom without complaint.

 

“You want me to leave?” MacCready leaned against the door.

 

“Why would I want you to go? It’s not like you haven’t seen me naked.” She frowned as she worked the buttons of her dress.

 

“Yeah, but that was before. I saw the bruises on your thighs.” He shoved his hands into his pockets, shoulders slumped.

 

Oh. She tore her gaze away and turned around, fumbling with the buttons until she got them undone. She peeled the dress off, dried blood flaking to the floor like ash. “He didn’t rape me. I killed him before he got the chance.”

 

“Nick told me about what happened in Goodneighbor. The parts of the story you left out.”

 

Of course Nick had. A few others knew what happened, at least some of it. Finn, John, Daisy. They knew because they’d seen her at Amari’s. She’d been bloody but she refused to leave Hannah’s side. After Hannah died, John had been the one to pull her out of Amari’s, but she’d run from him. Run all the way to Diamond City. “Do you know why I went to Nick? Did he tell you that?”

 

“No.”

 

“I asked him to kill the man who did it. I begged him to kill him. He was Nick Valentine, defender of the weak. He wouldn’t do it, of course. He’s not a killer. So a week later, when I’d healed some, I went back to Goodneighbor and slit Tommy Taylor’s throat. You sleep a lot better after the person who hurt you bleeds out beneath you. I think Nick knew what I’d done, but he never said anything about it. He just took me in, helped me, never asked me for anything in return.” Slid off her undergarments, peeling them from her skin. The water sputtered to life as she turned the handle.

 

“Nick might not get it, but I do. After Lucy died, when I got Duncan somewhere safe, I went back. I knew she was dead, but I had to slaughter the ferals that did it. Hell, they were beasts, didn’t know what they’d done, but I couldn’t sleep until I knew I’d killed ‘em.”

 

He did get it. She could tell in his voice, he didn’t judge her, didn’t think any less of her. Ellie stepped into the shower, the water lukewarm but better than freezing. She scrubbed at her skin, the water turning red as it went down the drain.

 

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring you. I was trying to prove. . . something. That I was strong, that I could handle it, that Nick was wrong.” She stared down at the bruises on her thigh. “Guess he was right.”

 

#

 

Nick rubbed his eyes with the heel of his palms but it didn’t help, didn’t scrub away the sight in his head. Couldn't get rid of the blood and bruises that filled his mind.

 

“She’s okay.” Nora set a hand on his arm. His Nora, always his rock, always there.

 

“She isn’t okay. You don’t understand, you didn’t see her.” He’d already spoken to Hancock, and he was taking care of the body. She’d headed over to the Statehouse to shower, to wash off all the blood that covered her. Maybe that would help him breathe, to see her cleaned up.

 

It reminded him of the day she’d shown up on his doorstep. He never wanted to see a sight like that again, never wanted to see her like that again. He’d fought like hell to keep her safe, to keep her out of that position.

 

He’d failed, he knew, time and time again. The first time was when he hadn’t gone and killed the bastard who had done it to her. She’d begged him that first night, going down on her knees, offering anything if he’d just kill him.

 

But Nick couldn’t. He’d spouted off something about justice, about rising above. Truth was, he wanted to kill the man as much as Ellie did, but wanted to be seen as more, wanted to believe he was more. A week later she returned, blood on her hands, and she never had another nightmare. He knew she’d gone and done it herself. His little Ellie, the skinny, mouthy girl who lit up his office.

 

“She’s tough, Nick. If she’s breathing, she’s okay.”

 

Nick sighed and shook his head. “You know, I never had kids, not the human Nick, and it ain’t happening now that I’m mostly metal. Ellie though, I always thought of her as my kid. She turned up on my door at fifteen, already mostly raised, I guess, but if I could have a kid of my own, if I could make my perfect daughter, I’d pick her. Kills me to see her hurting.”

 

Nora pulled Nick into a tight hug. “I know. Believe it or not, she knows it, too.”

 

“I doubt that. You’ve seen us fight, we ain’t the picture of a healthy father daughter relationship.”

 

“If you think that, you haven’t been paying attention to many families. All kids fight with their parents. She’ll come around.”

 

Nick pulled out of the hug after pressing a kiss to Nora’s check. How had he survived without her? Without her kindness, and her help, and her love? She steadied him, made him realize what he did mattered.

 

He paced, waiting for Ellie to return. He needed to see her, to make sure she was okay, that she really was alive and well.

 

#

 

When MacCready and Ellie exited the bathroom, Nick, Nora, and Hancock all sat in Hancock’s office.

 

Not that Hancock hadn’t already made himself known. He’d walked right into the bathroom with Ellie naked and wet, a dress for her in hand. If it had been anyone else, MacCready might have shot him for the principle of it. However, he found it hard to be angry when the two acted like bickering siblings.

 

And Ellie had smiled when she’d seen the beautiful blue dress, and that smile warmed him, so Hancock could live.

 

For now.

 

“Hey there, Doll.” Nick stood when she entered, but didn’t come forward, like he wasn’t sure he was welcome.

 

Ellie wasn’t one to torture people, because she left MacCready’s side and wrapped her arms around Nick, burying her face against his chest. Nick closer his arms around her, pulling her against him in a tight hug.

 

MacCready smiled as he leaned against a wall, watching the two make up. They were family; they shouldn’t fight. Nora shared the smile he did, but then, he and Nora had that in common. They both knew how fast you could lose it all, how fast you could have nothing. You had to cherish people, because they were gone too fast.

 

Nick pressed a kiss to Ellie’s head before he took a step back, like he didn’t want to crowd her. “So, you ready to fill us all in?”

 

Hancock chimed in. “Yeah, I’m interested to know who’s pulling this shit in my town. I don’t tolerate this sort of bullshit.” He pointed at the bruises on her throat with the tip of his knife. “Anymore assholes involved, I want ‘em.”

 

“Yeah, you’ll need to get in line for that,” MacCready said from his spot against the wall.

 

“I can’t tell you much. There was a note on Coster’s body with a time and place. I went, but they got me with a shock baton before I saw anything, knocked me out. When I came to, there were two men talking. One left, saying he had a lead on where Coster was. I guess they don’t know Coster’s dead. The other one was supposed to figure out who I was and then kill me.”

 

Hancock grinned, playing with the knife like it was nothing. “Guess he didn’t realize who he was fucking with, huh?”

 

Ellie didn’t return the smile. “I still don’t know what they wanted with Coster, why he came to Goodneighbor, nothing. Guess I’m not as good as this as I thought I would be.”

 

“You’ve done good, Ellie.” Nick reached out and squeezed Ellie’s hand. “But why don’t you come back home? We’ll work the case together.”

 

She sighed, like all the life had drained out of her, before nodding. “Yeah, okay. I’ll come home.”

 

MacCready met Nora’s gaze, and exchanged the same frown. She sounded like she’d given up, and that just didn’t fit with the spunky secretary. Hancock’s face echoed the same.

 

Nick was the only one to smile, squeezing her hand again before sitting back. “Good. Sounds good.”


	14. Chapter 14

Ellie packed her things, moving slow. She didn’t want to go back. She didn’t want to cower inside Nick’s office, to go back to that old life. On her own she’d found adventure, a sense of self she’d lost over the years in Diamond City. For the first time in so long she’d felt powerful, like her old self, like someone who could earn her keep.

 

She wasn’t a Diamond City girl; she was born and bred Goodneighbor. Gritty, tough, impossible to keep down.

 

But she’d made a mess of this investigation. Nick was right, she couldn’t do this. She’d almost gotten herself killed because of her poor choices and she still hadn’t found out anything useful. All the time and pain and she was no closer to answers than when she’d started. Turned out she was a terrible detective.

 

Nick and Nora had already left. MacCready had offered to escort her back, and while Nick hadn’t looked happy, Nora had drug him from town with an agreement that Ellie would follow.

 

Nora hadn’t said much, but then again, she usually didn’t. But, Nora and Nick, they made sense. Now that Ellie had realized she’d never really loved Nick, she could see how Nora and he worked. Both pre-war, both devoted to changing the world, both terribly boring.

 

“You’re going back?” MacCready handed her a sweater that had been tossed over a chair.

 

“Yeah, I am. I can’t do this. I thought I could, I wanted to prove I could, but I’m not Nick.”

 

“I think you’re under a lot of misinformation when it comes to Nick. He isn’t the all-powerful lone lawman you seem to think he is.”

 

She shoved the sweater into her pack. It would wrinkle, but the small outlet made her feel better. At least a little. “Maybe not all-powerful, but he hasn’t failed, not like I have.”

 

“You know how Nora and I found him the first time? He was trapped down in that vault, behind a door. He’d been stuck in the room for two weeks, Ellie. Two weeks of him in a tiny room while one of Skinny’s men taunted him through a window. I bet you anything he got bored and talked to the stupid bobblehead in there, like it was his best buddy.”

 

She frowned as she thought about Nick being caught. Sure, she knew he hadn’t come back right away, but she hadn’t really spent time thinking about why. “That could happen to anyone.”

 

“Yeah, it could. One time he took a grenade to the balls, or whatever’s there. I try not to think about what he’s got. I had to haul his heavy ass a mile to repair him.”

 

“Anyone could get hurt.”

 

“That’s right. And another time, his finger fell off. I’m not even kidding. You know how he always had to tighten those screws? Well, he didn’t, and I spent an hour looking through feral corpses for it. Had to wash it in a river before he could screw it back on.”

 

“No one is perfect,” Ellie snapped, annoyed at MacCready’s tone.

 

MacCready grabbed her shoulders and turned her until she looked at him. “Exactly! Come on now, I’m making a smart point and that’s not really my strong suit so pay attention. Even Nick gets hurt, even he screws up, even he needs help. You’re moping around here like you’re worthless because of getting knocked around a little? How about you focus on the fact you killed a raider bigger and stronger than you? That you walked out of that room, not him. You got any idea how few people could do that? You’re not giving yourself any credit here.”

 

She opened her mouth to argue, then snapped it shut.

 

He was right.

 

She’d taken some hits, sure, but she’d survived. She’d won. She wasn’t a failure because someone had gotten the jump on her, she was a fucking winner because she’d come out of it alive, and the other guy hadn’t.

 

MacCready grinned. “That’s better. I like that spark. Now, what are you going to do?”

 

She grabbed the file from her pack. “I’m going to figure this out. There’s been something bothering me about this, something that I can’t stop thinking about.”

 

“You mean besides the whole almost dying thing?”

 

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, besides that. The shock baton. I’ve gotten hit with them before.”

 

“What? Who hit you with one?”

 

“Finn wanted to try one out and as the town little sister, I was always the one talked into everything. The thing is that they hurt, but they aren’t strong enough to knock a person out, not without upgrading them, and that isn’t an easy thing to do. It’s expensive and they tend to overload, so no one does it. So. . .”

 

“So why would they have that? Maybe they wanted to capture Coster alive.”

 

“No. Cheaper to use a chem. A good dose of Med-x would knock a person out. More reliable and cheaper. No one uses a shock baton like that unless they’ve got a good reason.”

 

Ellie scanned the folder, fingers stopping on a detail she’d missed the first time, or at least hadn’t considered. She froze as it sunk in.

 

“What?”

 

“Coster was illiterate.”

 

“And?”

 

She turned on MacCready, tossing the file to the table. “So if he was illiterate why would he have a note on him? He wouldn’t have been able to read it. Even if someone else read it to him, he wouldn’t have kept it. He was killed as soon as he got to town, so someone put it on him after he died. Which means. . .” She swallowed.

 

“Which means a trap. The meeting time was a trap. But for who?”

 

“The person who was supposed to be in Goodneighbor finding him. The person who would need an overcharged shock baton to take out.” Ellie strapped on the pistol Nora had given her, after hers had been taken.

 

“Who?”

 

“Nick.”

 

 

#

 

MacCready held the fedora in his hand, the hat Nick never removed, the one he’d found just outside the Goodneighbor gate.

 

“We’re too late,” Ellie whispered, eyes locked on blood droplets on the ground.

 

“Trust me, Nick and Nora will hold on a while. Not enough blood here to take out Nora, not by a long shot. And while he likes it, Nick’ll be fine without his hat.”

 

Ellie turned around, walking toward the Goodneighbor gate.

 

“What’s the plan?”

 

“I’m going figure out who took them and then I’ll bring them both back.”

 

MacCready broke into a jog to catch up. “That’s my girl.”


	15. Chapter 15

“You are not welcome here. You need to leave, now.” Dr. Amari stepped back as Ellie left the stairs and entered Amari’s lab.

 

“Suck it up,” Ellie said. “I need to see the body.”

 

“You mean the man you killed?”

 

“Yeah, him. I wouldn’t cry over him, I doubt anyone is missing him.”

 

“And you’re not a good person either, so I’m not sure I should trust your assessment.”

 

Ellie was about to argue, but the raspy voice of Hancock stopped her. “I let you set up in my town, Amari. Even after everything with Hannah, I let you stay. You want to keep that going, I suggest you start being a hell of a lot more helpful. That stiff you have, he tried to rape and kill Ellie, and I ain’t exactly feeling magnanimous about that. If I didn’t kick your ass to the curb, I might just let Ellie get another shot at you. So how about you knock off the attitude and make yourself useful?”

 

Amari's back straightened and she took a step back. Yeah, not many people would go toe to toe with him when he was pissed, and that voice? That was the voice of one pissed ghoul.

“Y-yes, Hancock. Of course. Right this way.” She pointed to a body on a table, covered in a blanket. She pulled the blanket down to reveal the naked body.

 

Ellie took a deep breath to steady herself as she spotted the huge wounds across his chest. She’d done that. So many wounds, she couldn't even count them. He looked like some monster had gotten to him.

 

Hancock set his hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “You did good, sister. Man like would have brought a lot of hurt to a lot of people, and what did I teach you?”

 

“We hurt those who need hurting.”

 

“Good girl.”

 

Ellie nodded and moved forward. The man’s clothing and items were on the table beside his body. She dug through them. Weapons, including her pistol. She took that and slid it into her belt.

 

Chems, caps, nothing useful.

 

Ellie kicked the leg of the table. She needed to think. Nick was somewhere, in trouble. Hell, he could already be dead. If he was, she’d damn well follow Hancock’s example and deal with them.

 

She spread the items out, looking at them closer. There had to be a clue. She spoke outloud, running through the options. “Has to be somewhere close by. They wouldn’t risk moving two unruly captives far, and Nick and Nora would be very unruly. If they just wanted them dead, we’d have found their bodies.”

 

MacCready stood to Ellie’s left, staring at the items. “What’s this?” He picked up a pack of cigarettes.

 

“You smoke. You know what they are.”

 

He rolled his eyes. “Yes, but look at ‘em. They ain’t normal ones.”

 

Ellie took the pack and brought it closer. MacCready was right. The pack had a name on it, some sort of branding, like it came from a special machine.

 

She’d seen it before. Somewhere.

 

When she recognized the name, she turned toward Hancock, who grinned, having recognized it, too. “Good job. Let’s go get ‘em.”

 

They were at the Water Street Apartments, just outside the gates. Ellie and John had spent enough time there as kids to know that damn sign, the same one printed on the cigarettes.

 

She just hoped they’d figured it out in time.

 

#

 

“Hold up a minute,” MacCready said as Ellie shoved the stimpacks into the pocket of her dress.

 

Hancock had told them to give him fifteen to round up some neighborhood watch. Finn was grabbing his gear, as well. He didn’t care about Nora or Nick, but he wouldn’t let Hancock and Ellie have all the fun on their own, either.

 

“No.” Ellie didn’t turn around as she gathered ammunition for her pistol. “I don’t want to here it, RJ. I’ve heard Nick tell me for years how I can’t handle this, how I should just stay home. Nothing you can say will make me stay back, and I can’t believe you’d even try. I thought you understood me, that you believed in me.” She turned to face MacCready, ready to keep her tirade going, only to meet his grinning face and the armor he held up.

 

“You can keep yelling at me, or you could put on this armor. I mean, feel free to do this in a dress, but these might be more comfortable.” He shook the armor.

 

Ellie took the items and pressed a kiss to his lips, wishing they had more time, wishing they had some promise that this would work, that they’d come back alright. “Thank you.”

 

He yanked her closer for another kiss before he let her go. “I do believe in you. Now, get dressed, and let’s go save our friends, yeah?”

 

#

 

MacCready pressed his back against the wall. Whoever took Nick had a hell of a lot more men than he’d have liked. Hell, he’d have liked to be perched on a rooftop somewhere, picking off the bastards from a safe distance. This close range nonsense wasn’t his thing.

 

Too easy to end up dead.

 

But, he wasn’t going to perch that far away from Ellie, and Ellie was damn well going to go in. She had the leathers on, topped with armor. Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, out of her face, covered in weapons.

 

A rifle over her back from Finn, her pistol in her hands, another pistol beneath her jacket. Yeah, they’d armed the girl to the teeth, but who could blame ‘em? This wasn’t shaping up to be an easy job. But, hell the girl looked like a regular mercenary all decked out like that.

 

He liked it. Or, maybe he liked her in whatever she had on, or didn't have on.

 

MacCready shook his head and tried to get back on task. No time to fantasize. 

 

They’d taken out at least fifteen men, but there seemed no end to them.

 

MacCready picked ‘em off as soon as they entered his line of sight, all while trying to avoid Hancock who had decided that stabbing people was the way to go. Finn had an assault rifle, less accurate than MacCready’s sniper rifle, but he couldn’t argue with results.

 

“Weapons down!”

 

“Don’t think so, Brother.” Hancock unloaded another shot toward the voice.

 

Ellie moved over beside MacCready, her voice low. “That’s him. That’s the other voice from when they grabbed me.”

 

The one who’d ordered Ellie’s death. At least it meant they were tearing through the right group of men. MacCready stared down his sights, waiting for the asshole to appear.

 

Instead, it was Nora who appeared through the doorway, a hand wrapped around her arm and a pistol to her temple. She looked beat up and weak, not a good look on her.

 

“I hear one more bullet, and I blow her brains out. Got it?”

 

Hancock growled, flashing his teeth like a dog, before tossing down his shotgun. “Yeah, we got it.”

 

“Good. Weapons down, hands up, and come on in.”

 

MacCready, Ellie, Finn, and Hancock followed the orders, though Ellie kept the pistol beneath her jacket. More Neighborhood Watch stood outside, ready to provide backup., but too far away to help then. Too many in close quarters almost guaranteed friendly fire, so they were on their own.

 

MacCready grabbed Ellie and pulled her behind him. “Stay down and don’t do anything that risks you, do you understand me?”

 

She nodded, putting her hands up as she followed him and the others into the room. This rescue wasn’t exactly going according to plan, but then again, when did anything in his life go according to plan?


	16. Chapter 16

Ellie caught sight of Nick, seated in a chair, hands cuffed in front of him. He looked okay, but it was hard to tell with him. He didn’t bleed like the rest of them, so damage could be difficult to spot.

 

Nora looks less okay. She had a black eye, a fat lip, and what looked like a bullet wound in her arm. At least she was awake and moving, though. A good sign.

 

The man with his arm around Nora dropped her to her knees, along with the rest of them. Two men kept their guns pointed at the rest of them.

 

“Well, well. I see we’ve got some famous faces. My name is Carl, not that it matters, none of you will live very long. Hancock? How stupid can you be to leave your safe little town just to chase down a skirt and a detective? And MacCready? Fuck, must be my lucky day, to grab a mercenary like you. And we have Finn here to round out this little party.” He then caught sight of Ellie and stilled. “You. I believe I’ve already caught you once.” He flicked his fingers to call her over. “Come here.”

 

MacCready went to rise when she did, as if he could do anything to stop this, but one of the men grabbed his shoulder and shoved him back down.

 

“It’s okay,” Ellie assured him before getting up and walking over.

 

Carl caught her jaw and lifted her face to his, tilting it, studying her. “You’re supposed to be dead. I guess you never can count on good help, can you? Oh well, killing you all is just a bonus.”

 

Finn’s words echoed in her head. _People wouldn’t treat you like such a damsel if you didn’t act like one._ Might as well play up the one thing everyone seemed to agree on: that she looked incapable. 

 

She trembled, letting her eyes tear up. “I just wanted to help Nick.”

 

“I’ve heard about you, you know. The synth's secretary, the one hopelessly in love with her boss. That why he keeps you around? Because you've been caught twice now, I can't see another reason you're here. You see, I do my research before I get involved in anything. Nick here has cost me a lot of money. He has the unfortunate habit of interfering with my business during his cases, so it was time to get rid of him. I tricked Coster into coming to Goodneighbor, knowing his wife would run to Nick and he’s never been able to resist a sob story. You should have stayed home, though. This wasn’t supposed to be your problem. You would have never gotten into this.”

 

“I know I don’t belong here, but I couldn’t just let him go off by himself.”

 

He drug his finger along her jawline. “Love makes us do stupid things, doesn’t it? Well, neither of you are getting out of this alive, so at least you don’t have to worry about outliving him or anything.”

 

She pulled toward Nick, forcing her breath faster, shallow. She tried to mimic how she’d felt after killing the other man, the way her chest had gone tight.  

 

Nick yanked once on his cuffs, like he wanted to get to her before he stopped. He wasn’t getting those off, at least not on his own. “It’s okay, Doll. Just relax.”

 

Of course, Nick thought she was serious. If it wasn’t for her cover, she’d have glared at him. Someday, he’d realize she was tougher than he thought.

 

Carl laughed and released her. “Go on, sweetheart. Say your goodbyes. No one can say I’m not a sucker for doomed romance.”

 

She rushed over and crawled into his lap.

 

“I’m so sorry, darling. You shoulda’ never been here, never shoulda’ let you get into this.”

 

She slid a bobby pin from her sleeve and into the lock of his handcuffs. Her lips peppered chaste kisses to his jaw, to his cheeks. MacCready and Nora could kill ‘em later, but she had to sell the idea of star crossed lovers.

 

If only took her a moment to pop one cuff. The other could stay, they had to make do with what they could.

 

Nick must have caught on, because he returned the affection, brushing her forehead against hers, while his hand reached beneath her coat for the pistol tucked there. “You did good, sweetheart,” he said softly, lips pulling into a grin.

 

“Learned from the best.”

 

“That’s enough, lovers. Come on, get off him.” Carl grabbed Ellie’s arm and pulled her back, Nick’s hand hidden in the folds of his trench coat.

 

They’d get one chance, but as she’d learned before, she only need one.

 

Ellie braced her weight against Nick’s chair and threw herself at Carl holding her. She took them both to the ground. He overpowered her easily, getting up and tossing her back against the wall, pinning her with a hand against her throat. “Are you an idiot?”

 

“Nope. Just really distracting.” She grinned as Nick pressed the barrel of the gun against the back of Carl's head.

 

“Let her go if you want her head to stay in one piece.”

 

Carl narrowed his eyes at Ellie, like he’d just figured out she was more than he’d realized, but he lifted his hand in surrender.

 

Meanwhile, Hancock and Finn had overpowered the last two guards in the chaos.

 

MacCready rushed over, checking Ellie for marks, for damage. “You have any idea how hot it is when you pick locks?” He kissed her once, quick, like he couldn’t help it.

 

“Quite the ruse,” Carl said, hands still up. “Where is my man who was supposed to kill you?”

 

“Oh, he’s dead. I buried a pair of scissors into his chest over and over until he stopped moving.”

 

Carl let out a hard laugh that lacked humor. “If things were different, I think I might have liked you. More clever than I expected. Guess it teaches me to underestimate pretty faces, huh?”

 

Finn tossed MacCready his rifle, having retrieved it from the hallway where they were forced to abandon them. He handed Ellie her pistol, and Hancock his shotgun.

 

“So what happens now?” Carl kept watching Ellie, like she was the biggest threat.

 

She shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. Not my problem.”

 

“Nick isn’t the type to kill unarmed men. He’s soft.”

 

MacCready leveled his rifle at the man. “No, he isn’t. But guess what? I am.”

 

One bullet and it was all over.


	17. Chapter 17

Ellie cleaned the desk, trying to make sense of the paperwork. Why was she the only one who understood how to file anything?

 

“You put the Coster file away?” Nick walked in, holding a plant in his left hand.

 

“Yep. First thing I did. What’s that?”

 

He smiled and handed it over. “A present. Both an I’m sorry and an I’m proud of you one. I, well, Nora told me maybe I needed to say some things.”

 

She took the plant and set it on the desk. “Oh yeah? What sort of things?”

 

Nick rubbed at the back of his neck as he released a long breath. “Look, you matter to me. You’re family. Not just family, but, I know you didn’t really have parents, and, I guess. . .” he got through the words with all the finesse of a drunk stumbling through a deathclaw nest.

 

But the bastard deserved some squirming, so she leaned back and crossed her arms. “Go on.”

 

“I’d be damn lucky to have you as a daughter, Ellie, okay? I know I can be difficult, but it’s just because I can’t imagine not having you in my life. You mean the world to me, have ever since I found you on my doorstep, since I took you in. I know you don't need protecting, hell, you're tougher than I am I think, but I love ya', okay?”

 

She smiled and threw her arms around his neck, pulling him into a hug. “I’d be lucky to have you as a dad, Nick. I couldn’t ever ask for better.”

 

“Yeah, well, remember that when I’m old and need someone to take care of me, darling.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead before pulling away, then pointed at an open file on the desk. “So, you need any help, you let me know. I ain't that far away.”

 

“I will.”

 

MacCready walked in, a smile crossing his lips as he caught the two of them. He’d pushed for them to make up since the start, like he knew how much it meant to them both. Hell, they both had the same stubbornness.

 

“Well, I’ll get on out of your hair. See you around, Doll.”

 

After Nick left, MacCready caught Ellie’s hand and pulled her against him, capturing her lips in a deep kiss. “I got a surprise for you.”

 

She lifted an eyebrow and leveled a glance toward his crotch.

 

“Not that. Well, I mean, you can have that too, but it’s not what I meant. Come on, eyes closed.”

 

Ellie shut her eyes, though he didn’t seem to trust her, since he also placed his hand over her eyes.

 

He led her outside, stopping her just outside the door before pulling his hand away and whispering into her ear. “Okay, open ‘em.”

 

She opened them and gasped. “How did you make this?”

 

“Sturges owed me a favor. You like it?” He wrapped his arms around her from behind and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

 

She nodded. “You know, I was thinking, maybe this would be a good place for kids? Or, well, for one specific kid at least.”

 

“I was thinking the same thing. I think Duncan will love Goodneighbor. Course, Hancock and Finn will teach him all sorts of tricks, but I guess he could do worse for uncles. Someone has to counter all the bad influence Nick’ll have on him, trying to make him into some do gooder.”

 

She smiled at that idea, of living with him and Duncan, of having all those things she’d wanted. With John, Goodneighbor was a good place again, a place to raise kids. Sure, things wouldn’t always be perfect, she’d lived long enough to know that didn’t happen, but she’d learned one other important thing.

 

She’d remembered who she was, and she wasn’t ever going to forget it again.

 

“I love you, RJ.”

 

“I love you, too.” He turned her around and kissed her, the red glow spilling over them from the new neon sign he’d put up over the doorway of the warehouse John had given her:

 

_Perkins Detective Agency_

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end! Thanks for reading :) Hope you enjoyed it!


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